The charity plans to invest over £41 million over the next five years at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre to fund ground-breaking work, as part of the development of a unique chain of cutting-edge research hubs around the UK.
A key part of the funding will involve training the next generation of cancer researchers - including 45 PhD students - to ensure the brightest scientists are attracted to Cambridge.
The award will also fund research nurses, data managers, and help build patient groups, and facilitate tissue sample collection and processing which is essential for life saving research.
Professor Richard Gilbertson, Director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, said: “This funding award is excellent news for the city and for our Centre. It represents a critical investment in the research infrastructure in Cambridge and will equip us with the key laboratory and clinical tools needed to advance the understanding and treatment of cancer.
“The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre is an exciting collaboration of researchers, scientists and clinicians from Cancer Research UK, the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as well as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies across the city. It’s an alliance that allows us to make use of a wide range of expertise and techniques that can help progress cancer research and bring benefits to patients sooner.
“The investment means we will be able to further develop our work in translational research – getting cutting-edge discoveries from the laboratory to patients and learning as much as possible from patients to initiate new research.”
Cambridge has been chosen as one of just 13 locations to secure funding in the latest review of the Cancer Research UK Centres network of excellence. These research centres draw together world-class researchers and medical experts to help beat cancer sooner.
The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre brings together leading scientists, doctors and nurses to push forward improvements in early diagnosis and to find and develop better, kinder treatments. In particular, researchers are focusing on breast, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, oesophageal, blood, prostate and children’s cancers and brain tumours.
Danielle Glavin, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for the East, said: “This award is a recognition of the fantastic research that’s taking place in Cambridge. One in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives - so it’s reassuring to know that, thanks to our supporters, Cancer Research UK is able to fund some of the best and most promising research in Cambridge that will help more people survive.
“Cancer survival has doubled since the early 1970s and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress – but every step our doctors, nurses and scientists take relies on donations from the public and the tireless fundraising of our supporters.
“For this reason, we’re asking everyone in the East to get involved. From signing up for Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, pledging to drop the drink in January with Dryathlon or volunteering in one of our shops, we’re urging local people to help shape a better future for everyone diagnosed with cancer.”
