This World immunology Day (29 April) we are pleased to announce our partnership with the British Society for Immunology (BSI), bringing the immunology and cancer research communities together to drive collaborations and address challenges in immunotherapy through a series of joint initiatives.
Research around harnessing the body’s own immune system to fight cancer holds great promise and there have been breakthroughs for some cancers and patient populations, however, there are still many that remain resistant to these emerging therapies. To help figure out why and how to get around this, the NCRI-BSI partnership will connect the immunology community with the cancer community to advance our understanding and accelerate research.
The BSI is the largest immunology society in Europe with over 3500 members representing the diverse community of people working in immunology. They are the ideal partner for the NCRI to work with to accelerate research in this important area and unravel the interaction between the immune system and cancer to advance immunotherapy for all cancers.
Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation, Cancer Research UK
Cancer immunotherapy is an exciting and innovative area of immunology. Although we have taken significant steps forward over the last decade in bringing the first immunotherapies into frontline patient care, many challenges and opportunities still remain. Our collaboration with the NCRI, a partnership of cancer research funders who work together to accelerate research progress, is a brilliant opportunity to facilitate dialogue and collaboration between the immunology and cancer communities, speeding up discovery and knowledge transfer to bring positive change to the lives of people living with cancer.
Dr Doug Brown, CEO, BSI
Over the next few months NCRI and BSI will work together to establish a series of joint initiatives that aim to accelerate the progress of immunotherapy in cancer. This will include enhancing the training for researchers and promoting knowledge sharing, identifying the challenges currently hindering progress in cancer immunotherapy and the formation of strategic research groups to address key research questions.
For more information about this partnership, contact strategy@ncri.org.uk