Funding for UCC cancer research
Funding of over €4 million has been announced for a UCC patient-focused cancer research group.
The funding is part of a multi million euro project announced by the UCC Cancer Trials Group, a collaboration between UCC’s College of Medicine and Health and Cancer Research @UCC.
The Health Research Board will award €2.37 million for the collaborative five-year project, with further contributions from UCC, CUH, the South/Southwest Hospital Group, and industry and charity partners to bring the total funding to €4.2 million.
The project will bring together a dedicated team of cancer specialists and research staff from across the south of Ireland.
The new cancer trials group will be co-led by Prof. Roisin Connolly, the Professor Gerald O'Sullivan Chair in Cancer Research, and Prof. Joseph Eustace, Director of the Clinical Research Facility UCC.
They will be joined by site leads and principal investigators from oncology clinical trials units at CUH, the Bons Secours Cork and University Hospital Waterford (UHW). The project will include outreach to other regional hospitals in the South/Southwest Hospital Group caring for patients with cancer. The National Cancer Strategy 2017 emphasised how important cancer research and clinical trials are in patient care. Often, patients who participate in clinical trials have better treatment results and quality of life.
The team already has a strong track record in patient enrolment in clinical trials, and extensive connections with industry partners and Irish and international research groups.
Ms Sonya Lynch, a breast cancer patient advocate, welcomed the news: “I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. Only for cancer research and clinical trials, I would not still be here for my family. As a patient who has gone from primary breast cancer to metastatic breast cancer, I am all too aware of the complexity of the disease, and the impact it has on patients and our families.”
According to Head of the College of Medicine and Health at UCC and Chief Academic Officer, South/Southwest Hospital Group, Professor Helen Whelton, patients experience better quality of health care and better outcomes of treatment where research for patient benefit is integrated in the system.
She said: “Our goal is to continue to grow research in health care in this region through close partnership between our health care providers and the university in an integrated academic healthcare system for our region. The funding provided for UCC Cancer Trials Group will help to realise our ambition for an academic cancer health system for the region incorporating clinical, research and educational excellence.”
Professor Roisin Connolly added: “As we expand our clinical trial portfolio, our goal is to bring our patient enrolment to clinical trials to the national benchmark, which is six per cent, and beyond in line with international centres of excellence. A major focus will be the development of home-grown clinical trials alongside clinical research training opportunities.”
UCC President Professor John O’Halloran concluded: “A collaborative approach to research for the betterment of society is a key pillar in our strategic plan towards delivering a connected university in 2022. UCC Cancer Trials Group epitomises our ambition in this regard in developing a partnership across academia, clinical practice, industry and of course patients, whose needs are at the core of this project.”