ANALYSIS: EXCLUSIVE

A century of progress in cancer

6 INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION ANALYSIS: EXCLUSIVE

Executive Director of Strategy and Research Funding, Cancer Research UK

International Innovation speaks with Dr Iain Foulkes about the forthcoming opening of the Institute, the importance of the organisation's operating strategy and the diverse ways that Cancer Research UK is funding research that will have true translational impact

Cancer Research UK is working to beat cancer in a number of different Could you introduce yourself and your role within Cancer Research ways, from fundraising to policy development. Can you outline the UK? What does your position entail? organisation’s core activities? As Executive Director of Strategy and Research Funding, my role Cancer Research UK is the largest independent funder of cancer research within Cancer Research UK has two broad components. One is leading in the world; we spend around £350 million on research each year. This our research funding activity, which involves overseeing our research supports work along the research pathway, from basic through to last-phase portfolio to ensure it aligns to the organisation’s strategy and objectives. clinical, and along the patient pathway, from prevention through The other is leading the development of strategies for the organisation to treatment. as a whole. This includes research but also fundraising, policy and corporate strategies. Outside scientific research, we have an ambitious policy agenda, which works to ensure the findings of cancer research translate to public and You are a member of both the Science Committee and the Scientific patient benefits through legislation and within the healthcare system. That Executive Board. What function do these bodies serve? includes campaigning on issues such as standardised packaging for tobacco and access to radiotherapy. We also act as leader in cancer information for The Science Committee is the body responsible for making funding patients and the public, and drive this through an online presence, outreach decisions about our response-mode discovery research (ie. basic and activities and awareness campaigns. translational). It is chaired independently by Professor Chris Marshall of the Institute of Cancer Research and ultimately exists to ensure we fund Clearly all this work cannot happen without the continued generosity of basic and translational research that is of the highest quality and cancer- our supporters – effective fundraising is vital. This involves developing new relevance. The Science Committee does not cover the whole spectrum and innovative ways to fundraise (we have an innovation team to support of our research – it has counterparts. The New Agents Committee, for this) and maintaining growth in key areas. It has been a tough few years example, looks after early-phase trial activity, while the Clinical Trials and for the whole sector, but we last year was strong; we raised around £480 Awards Advisory Committee oversees later phase clinical trial activity and million through a combination of legacies, direct giving, trading (our charity the Population Research Committee looks after population research. shops), our Race for Life event (a sponsored 5 km run for women), volunteer fundraising and more. Major donation also represents a key area of focus for The Scientific Executive Board is concerned with the strategic and us, including the Create the Change campaign for the . operational oversight of our entire research funding; it is a sub-set of WWW.RESEARCHMEDIA.EU 7 ANALYSIS: EXCLUSIVE

the charity’s Executive Board, and it is made up of Cancer Research UK we did not catalyse representatives. It covers the full spectrum of our research activity. It and facilitate enough The makes decisions on the strategic direction of our research and oversees high-quality research Francis the overall management and allocation of our research budget. in these areas. We Crick underestimated the Institute Cancer Research UK is coming to the end of its 2009-14 research challenge, thinking strategy. To what extent has the organisation made progress towards a statement of Due to open in 2015, the Francis Crick achieving the priorities it set out five years ago? intent would be Institute will be unique in fostering enough to bring in close collaboration between biomedical Our 2009-14 strategy had three clear themes: focusing our research, exceptional grant researchers on a range of disease types. providing the right environment for research and providing the right applications. This The facility itself will be state-of-the- people for research. We have progressed well on each of these. time we will take art, and the researchers working a more proactive within it will be some of the We have continued to fund research of the highest scientific quality approach, building best in the world. through our response-mode and core funding. We have also taken a capacity and fostering leadership role in personalised medicine through the Stratified Medicine effective collaborations Programme, which demonstrated how genetic testing on tumours could within the research be carried out routinely in the (NHS). In terms community. of environment, we developed the Centres network to drive translational research across the country. This is about to enter its next phase. We Furthermore, since we know that early diagnosis of cancer have continued to fund world-class research in our institutes and taken offers the greatest potential for major improvements in outcomes, we the exciting opportunity to partner with the Francis Crick institute. We intend to make substantial investments to achieve more in this area. are also continuing to support and train the next generation of cancer This will include basic biological research, diagnostic development, researchers through our fellowships and within our institutes and Centres. epidemiology, health services research, behavioural research and policy activities. Most notably, we will initiate new research into biomarkers The only area of the 2009-14 strategy where we have not progressed as for early detection, utilising a multidisciplinary approach that includes far as we would have liked is researching into cancers of unmet medical biologists, clinicians, technology experts, physicists, engineers, molecular need. We will be addressing this through our new strategy. pathologists and biostatisticians.

Do you envisage any new areas of focus in the next strategy, which Could you summarise the process through which Cancer Research will be released in spring this year? UK formulates its long-term research and funding strategies?

While the new strategy represents a continuation of our commitment to The process for formulating our most recent research strategy involved funding world-leading work across the research and patient pathways, consulting with scientific and clinical communities to harness their there will be some areas of increased concentration. We will also focus expertise. We talked to 100 researchers, asking broad questions in key more on cancers of unmet medical need – lung, pancreatic, oesophageal areas including: what works well?; what does not work as well?; what are and brain. Historically, these cancers have been under-invested in and the biggest opportunities?; what challenges might lie ahead?; and what have high mortality rates. Pancreatic cancer, for instance, has a five- should Cancer Research UK’s role be? year survival rate of just 4 per cent, while lung cancer continues to be the biggest cancer killer in the UK. We focused on lung, pancreatic and That last point is very important. Through the process of developing oesophageal cancers in our 2009-2014 strategy, but we now recognise the strategy, we had to think long and hard about our role as a funder.

2002 2003 2004 2006 2007

• Cancer Research • It is discovered • The largest ever • The 3D structure • Cambridge Research UK forms following that HPV testing trial for pancreatic of cancer protein Institute opens, with the merger of the could help cervical cancer begins Hsp90 is unravelled, the aim of helping Cancer Research screening paving the way for lab researchers Campaign and the novel diagnostic work more closely Imperial Cancer and treatments. with cancer Research Fund. Its doctors. Their formation marks • Experimental goal is to deliver the creation of the Cancer Medicine new discoveries to largest independent Centres – designed patients as quickly cancer research to streamline new as possible organisation in cancer treatments the world into clinical trials • Smoke-free in patients – open legislation is • The faulty BRAF across the UK brought in across gene is found in the UK following a more than half of Cancer Research UK melanoma cases campaign

8 INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION ANALYSIS: EXCLUSIVE

Supporters give generously to Cancer Research UK in support of its mission to save more lives by preventing, controlling and curing cancer. We need to ensure we continue to fund world-class research, while recognising that our responsibility is to our donors to ensure that those research findings are translated into benefits for patients and the public at the appropriate time and as rapidly as possible.

Are there any particular benefits to working for a large-scale, Look how far world-leading organisation like Cancer Research UK that you would we have come… like to highlight?

Working at Cancer Research UK offers the benefit of knowing you are In In part of a team that is making a real impact. We have sufficient scale the 1960s, the early to undertake the activities we feel will bring us nearer to achieving our only 30% of 1970s, just 25% objectives, but we are not so big that we can do everything. This enables children survived of people survived a us to invest with a view of making impact and progression. childhood cancer. cancer diagnosis by 10 This has now risen years or more. This Working for Cancer Research UK is also great because I am part of an to 82% has now doubled organisation with a unique role. The UK research environment is an Cancer to 50% incredibly strong platform for making progress against cancer. We death rates have excellent researchers in a network of internationally renowned have dropped by universities and a single health system. The organisation has a huge role 20% in the last to play in harnessing these assets within the UK and bringing its influence 20 years to bear internationally.

You have served as Executive Director of Strategy and Research Funding since August 2009. Would you like to outline any particular achievements or innovations that have occurred during this time? www.cancerresearchuk.org While I have been the Executive Director of Strategy and Research Funding for several years, I have been with Cancer Research UK since it formed in 2002. I was actually at Imperial Cancer Research Fund – one of the two organisations that merged to form Cancer Research UK – before that point in time. Since then, the organisation has grown and evolved enormously. In terms of achievements, there are almost too many to mention! I am proud of the advances that scientists have made as a result of our funding, which is only made possibly thanks to our donors. Cancer Research UK has also made a massive impact in UK health – the ban on smoking in public places will save many lives, the ban on children using sunbeds likewise, and many of the continued improvements in cancer services are thnaks to the great work of our organisation.

2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 2014

• Trial results reveal • Five gene variations • A new flexi-scope • New legislation • HPV is linked to • #nomakeupselfie that using larger, that can increase test is found comes into force in a third of throat online trend goes but fewer, doses the risk of the brain to significantly England and Wales cancers viral on social of radiotherapy tumour glioma improve bowel preventing under- media, raising is as effective are identified 18s from using • Scientists break the over £8 million as the standard sunbeds, following blood-brain barrier in six days radiotherapy • Researchers show • An international a campaign led by to more effectively treatment used that IMRT – a trial confirms that Cancer Research UK treat cancers in • Novel anti-cancer for treating early new technique the drug anastrozole and other supporters the brain drug RG7813, breast cancer to provide can prevent breast developed by radiotherapy for cancer from • International Cancer Cancer Research head and neck returning even a Genome Consortium UK, enters its first cancer – can reduce decade later launches with the clinical trial the side effects aim of reading the of treatment entire DNA sequence • Launch of a world- and dramatically of individual cancers, first clinical trial of improve patients’ which have been targeted treatments quality of life taken from thousands for advanced bowel of individuals cancer WWW.RESEARCHMEDIA.EU 9