Queen's University Belfast opens new centre for cancer research

Queen's Chancellor Senator George Mitchell officially opened the University's new £25M cancer research centre aimed at stopping the spread of cancer.

The Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB) on Queen’s Lisburn Road campus will develop new avenues for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases to help relieve human suffering.

The state-of-the-art facility houses over 300 researchers from across the world. Along with the new Northern Ireland Clinical Cancer Centre at Belfast City Hospital, it makes Belfast one of Europe’s leaders in the battle against cancer in the 21st Century.

The development of both facilities has also created the first comprehensive cancer centre in Ireland, promoting international quality research programmes linking Queen’s, the Health Service and other organisations funding cancer research.

The hall-mark of all the Centre’s research programmes will be a collaborative interaction between clinical and laboratory research experts from across Queen’s in fields as diverse as Chemistry, Mathematics, Clinical Trials, Immunology, Virology, Pharmacy and Cell Biology.

Declaring the Centre officially open, Queen’s Chancellor Senator George Mitchell said: “This new Centre places Northern Ireland in the front line of the worldwide crusade to tackle cancer.

“The international dimension of the Centre’s work is crucial. Cancer does not recognize boundaries or geographical frontiers. The battle to defeat it must also be waged on a global scale. It is through international research partnerships and the sharing of information that we can create a powerful synergy to combat cancer for the betterment of everyone.

“Professor Paddy Johnston’s international reputation and that of his team are a catalyst in the forging of global partnerships to relieve the human suffering from cancer.”

Such key partnerships include the CCRCB’s association with the National Cancer Institute Cancer Consortium (NCI) and the recently announced agreement with the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi, India.

Professor Patrick Johnston, Director of the new Centre, said: “Today is a major milestone for Northern Ireland and Queen’s in launching an international centre for excellence in cancer research and care. This centre will allow us to play our role as a leader in the fight against cancer.”

The Northern Ireland Cancer Clinical Trials Unit, part of the CCRCB, was this week also recognised as one of 40 Clinical Trials Units (CTUs) to have successfully gone through a new UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) Clinical Trials Unit Registration Process. Registration is designed to improve the quality and quantity of available expertise to carry out clinical trials in the UK.

Eilish McCabe, from Aughnacloy, a patient currently on a clinical trial as a result of the work of the CCRCB said: “I am delighted to see this new facility declared open today. This centre has given me new hope and I know it will do the same for many others across Northern Ireland and beyond.”

To mark the official opening of the Centre, a two day international Scientific Symposium is taking place at Queen’s Medical Biology Centre. Featuring top scientific, research and cancer experts from around the globe, Professor Neal Rosen, Head, Development Therapeutics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, will deliver the inaugural Mitchell Lecture sponsored by Hewlett Packard.

Also speaking will be Professor Paul Workman, Director of the Centre for Cancer Therapeutics, Institute for Cancer Research, London; Professor Nick Lemoine, Director, Institute of Cancer and CRUK Clinical Centre, Barts and The London Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry; Professor Gerard Evan, Distinguished Professor of Cancer Biology, University of California, San Francisco; Professor Richard Youle, Chief, Biochemistry Section, Porter Neuroscience Research Center, National Cancer Institute USA; Professor Rosemary O’Connor, Professor of Cell Biology, University College Cork; Dr Chris Takimoto, Director of Pharmacology, Institute for Drug Development, Cancer Therapy and Research Centre, Texas and Professor Caroline Dive, Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology Group, Patterson Institute for Cancer Research, Christie Hospital Manchester.

http://www.qub.ac.uk