The Cancer Research UK City of London Radiation Research Centre of Excellence has today set out its future strategic priorities. It has received renewed funding of £5.9 million from Cancer Research UK, to add to £12 million leveraged from partners including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Wellcome Trust, and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), as well as the Barts Charity and Guy's Cancer Charity.
The new funding will allow the Centre to continue its world-class research, with areas of focus including the biological understanding of radiation resistance, investigating new radiation drug combinations, and developing new clinical trials. By growing its portfolio of clinical trials, the Centre will pursue its "bench to bedside" pipeline, prioritising cancers of unmet need.
The CRUK City of London Radiation Research Centre of Excellence was established in 2019 and is a partnership between Barts Cancer Institute (Queen Mary University of London), King's College London, University College London and The Francis Crick Institute. The centre aims to attract world-leading researchers from across the globe and promote collaboration between diverse scientific fields to improve cancer survival rates.
We are so grateful and pleased that the funding for this successful partnership will be continued. Over the last five years as part of the City of London Radiation Research Centre of Excellence we have leveraged existing expertise at KCL on the mechanisms and imaging of radiation resistance as well as novel combination strategies and molecular radiotherapy to drive forward understanding of the effective use of radiotherapy in cancer treatment. Today's announcement means that we will now be able to continue to positively impact outcomes for even more cancer patients.
Dr Teresa Guerrero Urbano, KCL's institutional lead on the Centre's Executive Board
The Centre has embraced Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement, carrying out over ninety activities aimed at inspiring and informing, consulting and collaborating with patients with lived experience of radiotherapy. Its audience will now expand to include family, friends, and carers through activities such as showcasing research at events, and hosting lab tours and career talks for schoolchildren.
We are very grateful to Cancer Research UK for their continued support of our cross-institutional initiative to evolve and improve radiotherapy treatments for the benefit of cancer patients.This commitment, together with leveraged funds from our institutions, local charities and industry partners, will allow us to build on the remarkable success of the first fiveyears of RadNet.
Dr Simon Boulton, Director of the CRUK City of London Radiation Research Centre of Excellence and Principal Group Leader at The Francis Crick Institute
So far, Cancer Research UK has invested over £42 million in its radiotherapy network. Increasing understanding of the underpinning biological mechanisms in radiotherapy, and how best to apply and deliver it, is a priority for the charity.
Cancer Research UK, and its predecessors, have been at the forefront of radiation research for the past 120 years. Thanks to research, radiotherapy treatment is becoming kinder, more precise and less intensive across different cancers."This funding marks a new phase of our RadNet network, advancing research which will further accelerate improvements in radiotherapy treatment in the clinic. This funding will work alongside our investments in pioneering radiotherapy clinical trials to ensure more people can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK
