VIENNA, March 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Astellas European Foundation is delighted to announce the winner of the 2011 Urology Grant:

Mr James Catto from the University of Sheffield, UK

The University's team led by Mr Catto received the grant of US$ 300,000 to support work on their project entitled 'Examination of the role of non-coding RNA in the mediation of chemoresistance in bladder cancer' at the Astellas European Foundation Award Event, last night.

Dr Ayad Abdulahad, Astellas European Foundation Trustee and Vice President of Medical Affairs and Health Economics for Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. commented, "We received 37 entries from across Europe and as always, the standard of these entries was extremely high, covering a broad range of topics in urology. It was very difficult for the Judging Faculty to choose one winner, but Mr Catto's research will potentially help to improve survival from invasive bladder cancer, where the prognosis is poor and has not changed in many years." He continued "the Foundation would especially like to acknowledge all those who submitted their research proposals."

The Astellas European Foundation is a registered charity. It was set up in 2005 with the long-term goal of providing support for programmes and activities, that contribute to the advancement of an increasingly healthy society. The Astellas European Foundation Urology Award supports basic medical and related scientific programmes which contribute to advancements in urology. The winner of the grant was chosen by a Judging Faculty that includes independent European thought leaders.

At the Awards Presentation Event in Vienna, Austria, the Astellas European Foundation emphasised their continued and long term commitment to research and development.

Mr Catto said "We are delighted to have received this grant from the Astellas European Foundation in support of our research. We hope that one day our project will help to direct chemotherapy to those tumours most likely to respond and ultimately improve outcomes. We look forward to reporting our findings in the future."

Notes to Editors