Edinburgh scientist who lost his dad to coronavirus rallies to tackle funding loss for charity

Juan Carlos and his father pictured together in 2018

An Edinburgh scientist who lost his father to COVID-19 is rallying people across the city to help tackle the devastating loss of funding for cancer research caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The pandemic has slowed down the work of Dr Juan-Carlos Acosta at the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre at the University of Edinburgh, but after attending a heart-breaking memorial service to his dad in Spain, the cancer scientist is finally back working in his lab in Scotland.

The 46-year-old, from north Edinburgh, was devastated to hear his father – a former director of public health in Spain – had died from COVID-19 on March 23, aged 79.

Scientist Juan Carlos is finally back working in his lab in Edinburgh

Spurred on by his father’s death, the scientist lent his expertise to help set up a COVID-19 testing facility at the University of Edinburgh while he was forced to continue his research from home during the lockdown.

Now, with much of his work having been on pause, Juan-Carlos is backing an urgent new appeal from Cancer Research UK for donations to help get life-saving research back on track.

Following the cancellation of fundraising events like Race for Life, the charity is expecting a staggering £160 million drop in income in the year ahead.

As a result, Cancer Research UK has had to make the difficult decision to cut £44 million in research funding, however more loss is anticipated.

Originally from Burgos in Spain, Juan-Carlos, who is funded by Cancer Research UK, is helping to highlight the threat the funding gap poses to future breakthroughs for cancer patients in Scotland and across the UK.

As a cancer scientist, he says he knows first-hand how vital new breakthroughs and discoveries are for people with cancer, who have felt keenly the impact of COVID-19.

Juan-Carlos said: “The cancer research that has taken place in the last 20 to 30 years, funded by Cancer Research UK and others, has made a huge difference to the number of people who survive cancer today. If the funding and the research stops, it’s going to be detrimental to people in the future.”

He continued: “You can imagine that in some laboratory somewhere, there may be a vial with a drug that could make the difference for some people with cancer. But if research stops, if the funding stops, this drug will come much later and it’s going to cost lives.”

Scientist Juan-Carlos was inspired to pursue a career in the medical sector by his father, also called Juan-Carlos.

He was a doctor who became Director of Public Health for the province of Burgos, Spain, and a highly-respected official who led the region’s responses to outbreaks of diseases such as bird and swine flu.

Juan-Carlos said: “My father always said he worried that a global pandemic like this was one of the risks we would face in the future. And it happened, and he was one of the people who died from it.”

Juan-Carlos senior started to show COVID-19 symptoms in his care home in Burgos in early March. He was admitted to hospital after his symptoms worsened, but he died ten days later. Neither his wife, Maribel, nor any of his family was able to see him in hospital or be with him when he passed away.

Juan-Carlos said: “It was really tough for the whole family. For me, it felt very strange the day my father died. Under normal circumstances I would have expected to be booking a flight home and starting to make funeral arrangements, but I couldn’t do anything. I was stuck at home in Edinburgh.

“In the end, the arrangements all happened very fast. Because it was the peak of the pandemic in Spain they were moving very quickly, and my father was cremated the next day with only my mother and my brother present. It was really difficult for me not to be able to be there, to hug my mum and my brother and to close the chapter of my father.”

The family was finally able to hold a ceremony to remember Juan-Carlos senior on July 21, in his hometown of Burgos.

Paying tribute to his father, Juan-Carlos said: “He was a person who was full of life, who loved to spend time with friends and family. He was also a great cook and loved to entertain in his kitchen. He was a bon vivant. We will miss him very much.”

Not long after his father’s death, the Edinburgh scientist was approached to help set up a COVID-19 testing facility at the University of Edinburgh.

In between carrying on his cancer research from home, Juan-Carlos used his expert knowledge and skills to help develop the COVID-19 testing process at the facility at the university’s Institute of Genetic & Molecular Medicine, which was set up to support NHS Lothian to increase its testing capacity at the peak of the outbreak in Scotland.

He said: “I thought about what my father’s response would have been to the pandemic. He would not have stayed at home knowing he could do something. I knew I had the skills to help so, when the opportunity came up, I felt it was my duty to get involved.”

Now back in his lab at the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre, Juan-Carlos is determined to get his research back up and running as quickly as possible.

He and his team study how cells alert the body when they are in danger of becoming cancerous, and the body’s natural responses to remove or destroy these damaged cells.

Juan-Carlos explained: “When the DNA in normal cells becomes damaged, and the cells are primed to become cancerous, there are several natural systems in the body that stop the development and growth of these cells.

“The aim of our research is to better understand these natural systems that act as a defence against cancer and use this information to design new treatments that could activate these natural defences to stop cancers from growing.

“Our research has shown positive results in lung cancer, and we are starting to take this forward now.”

Four months on from the start of lockdown, Juan-Carlos’ vital work is slowly re-starting – but with new safety measures in place in the lab and complex experiments to recover, it could take months to get back up and running at full speed.

And now with more cuts likely to follow, Juan-Carlos is deeply concerned about the heart-breaking fallout for patients.

The issue is powerfully brought to life in a new TV appeal film. It shows a cancer patient on the verge of finding out whether her treatment has been successful, when the video pauses at the critical moment.

Commenting on the film Juan Carlos said: “The message is clear, to save lives tomorrow Cancer Research UK needs the public’s support today.

“Research into cancer is facing a crisis where years and even decades worth of work could be lost in a matter of months. Every day and every pound counts, so I hope people in Edinburgh will give what they can to help us keep making new discoveries.

“As researchers our mission is clear – beat cancer. And with the impact of COVID-19 being keenly felt by people with the disease, it’s never been more important.”

Cancer Research UK’s work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been at the heart of progress that has seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

The charity currently funds around 50 per cent of all publicly funded cancer research in the UK.

Dr Victoria Steven, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Scotland, said: “We’re grateful to Juan-Carlos for helping to underline the stark reality of the current situation.

“With more than 32,200 people diagnosed with cancer every year in Scotland, we will never stop striving to create new and better treatments. But we can’t do it alone.

“Whether they donate, sign up to Race for Life at Home or shop at our recently re-opened stores in the city - with the help of people in Edinburgh we believe that together we will still beat cancer.”

Cancer Research UK was able to spend over £8 million in Edinburgh last year on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.