With significant support from the Peninsula Medical School, a team of researchers at the South West Liver Unit, which is based at the Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, are busy working towards saving more lives and improving the health of patients suffering from Hepatitis C all over the world by developing a new, breakthrough vaccination for the disease.

In addition to a 95,000 Pounds grant from the Mary Kinross Charitable Trust, the team has also been recently awarded a grant from the Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust to effectively expand and continue with the research.

"We're incredibly grateful for the funding we have received. It'll allow us to take on another research fellow and help take our research on to a new level", said Director of the research team Dr. Matthew Cramp, who is also a Consultant Hepatologist.

Estimates say that about 1500 people in the Plymouth area currently suffer from Hepatitis C, which is a blood-borne virus.

Although treatment is available for the disease already, it is effective in only about 50% of the treated patients. Also, it is much expensive and has significantly harmful side-effects.