The NCRI 2017-22 strategy outlines our broader strategic ambitions and how we strive to continuously advance cancer research.
We established the NCRI Strategy Advisory Group in 2018 as a group of thought leaders drawn from across the research spectrum to provide strategic advice on the implementation of our strategy and the development of new initiatives.
Professor Tim Maughan (Chair): Professor of Clinical Oncology and Clinical Director of the Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology.
Paul Workman (Deputy Chair): Chief Executive and President of The Institute of Cancer Research.
Professor Manuel Salto-Tellez: Chair of Molecular Pathology at Queen’s University Belfast, Clinical Consultant Pathologist at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and Deputy Director of the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology.
Professor Richard Gilbertson: Director of the CRUK Cambridge Centre at Cambridge University.
Professor Sarah Blagden: Associate Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics in the Department of Oncology at Oxford
Professor Ruth Plummer: Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research, Director of the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre, lead of the Newcastle Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and the CRUK Newcastle Cancer Centre.
Professor Andrew Tutt: Head of the Division of Breast Cancer Research and Director of the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at the ICR and Guy’s Hospital King’s College London.
Dr Anthony Byrne: Clinical director of the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre.
Dr Erik Sahai: Group Leader of the Tumour Cell Biology lab at the Francis Crick Institute.
Emma Kinloch: Chair of the NCRI Consumer Forum and member of the NCRI Head and Neck Group, founder of the London based Head and Neck cancer support group, member of the Head and Neck EURACAN domain and on the Board of Directors for Salivary Gland Cancer UK.
Professor Nick Lemoine: Medical Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN), Director of the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London and Director of Research & Development for Cancer at Barts Health NHS Trust.
Dr Rob Jones: Reader and Consultant in Medical Oncology Cardiff, Specialty Lead for Cancer in Wales, and Lead for Cancer Phase 1 trials in Wales.
Professor David Cameron: Professor of Oncology at Edinburgh University, Director of Cancer Services in NHS Lothian and Chief Scientist’s Office Clinical Cancer Research Champion.
Dr Helen Campbell: Portfolio Manager for Department of Health Research Networks, Cancer Research, and Clinical Research Facilities.
Dr Stuart McIntosh: Consultant Breast Surgeon at Belfast City Hospital and Deputy Lead for the Northern Ireland Cancer Trials Network.
Dr Ian Walker: Director of Clinical, Population and Early Detection Research at CRUK.
Dr Sabine Best: Head of Research at Marie Curie.
Dr Alasdair Rankin: Director of Research at the blood cancer charity Bloodwise.
Dr Jonathan Pearce: Associate Director, Biological Medicine, Medical Research Council.
Professor Michael Baumann: Chairman and Scientific Director of the German Cancer Research Centre (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ).
Sean Buckland: Senior Medical Affairs Advisor at Pfizer Oncology UK and ABPI Cancer Project Group representative for the NCRI Strategy Advisory Group.
While we work across all areas of research and with a wide range of stakeholders, we have a set of four scientific priority areas that we lend more focus to and four fundamental principles to drive our work in these areas. These are revised periodically by the NCRI Strategy Advisory Group.
Fundamental Principles:
Cross-funder and cross-sector collaboration and priority setting
There is a pressing need to increase partnership working and our collective impact as a research community for the benefit of people affected by cancer. As a partnership of key players in cancer research in the UK, the NCRI keeps the community connected and acts as a catalyst for collaboration and high-quality research.
Find out more about our Partners…
Coordinated high-quality research development and delivery
At the core of NCRI’s activities is a strong focus on improving the quality and delivery of research to maximise patient benefit. NCRI Groups, including CM-Path and CTRad, review and advise on research proposals, as well as develop their own studies to address gaps in the portfolio. Our groups are multidisciplinary, and we support them to collaborate outside their immediate area of expertise or cancer type to enable tumour-agnostic pathway driven research.
Find out more about NCRI Groups…
Early career research
There is a need to address the key academic attrition points during the clinical training and career pathway to ensure research remains a driver of better healthcare. The NCRI Early Career Researcher Programme is our key initiative to involve early career researchers in everything we do, bringing them together as a community and supporting them to realise their aspiration of contributing to the progress of cancer research. Through it we will work together with our Partners and others to improve the training and retention of clinical academics and early career researchers.
Find out more about our Early Career Researcher Programme…
Patient involvement
We involve patients, carers and others affected by cancer (also known as ‘consumers’) in all aspects of NCRI’s work. At any one time, up to one hundred consumers will be involved in our activities; making contributions to the setting of our strategy and shaping the research agenda at a national level as experts in the experience of cancer. All consumers involved in the NCRI are members of the NCRI Consumer Forum, which aims to foster a vibrant and collaborative community to work with NCRI as partners in cancer research.
Find out more about patient involvement and the NCRI Consumer Forum…
Scientific Priority Areas
Health data and AI
There is a major opportunity to accelerate cancer research by enabling the coordinated collection and secure sharing of high-quality health data for research purposes. This includes a whole range of different data types, such as routinely collected health data, patient reported data, imaging data and data collected as part of clinical trials. We believe that through fostering a culture of information sharing and collaboration we can overcome barriers to safe and efficient use of data in order to drive innovative research.
Find out more about health data and AI…
Immunology and immunotherapy
Together with the British Society for Immunology (BSI) we will create a supportive and coordinated research environment to advance cancer immunology, as well as the care that patients receive. We have an opportunity to bring the immunology and cancer research communities together to drive research collaborations and address challenges in immunotherapy that will lead to better patient outcomes.
Find out more about immunology and immunotherapy…
Prevention and early diagnosis
Several NCRI Partners are strategically focussed on prevention and early diagnosis and dedicate considerable resources to drive research in this area. NCRI is ideally placed to support Partners and researchers in their work by coordinating research through the NCRI Groups, as well as facilitating the development of studies through the NCRI Prevention and Early Diagnosis Group.
Find out more about prevention and early diagnosis…
Living with and beyond cancer
NCRI can speak with a strong, unified voice on behalf of our Partners and the wider cancer research community in areas of unmet need, including research to help patients live better lives with a diagnosis of cancer and following treatment. NCRI has established the top priorities to drive research and collaboration, and the NCRI Living With and Beyond Cancer (LWBC) Group is actively engaging with Partners and the wider research community to realise progress against these priorities.