Funders and supporters attend the ICR's Centre for Cancer Imaging launch celebration. Pictured, left to right: Lin Richardson (Wolfson Foundation), Niall Bolger (CEO Sutton Council), Rebecca Lewis, Professor Uwe Oelfke (ICR), and Dr Ian Foulkes (Cancer Research UK and ICR board member).
The Institute of Cancer Research, London, celebrated the opening of the new £20 million Centre for Cancer Imaging on its Sutton site this week. The state-of-the-art building is designed to drive collaboration between researchers from many different fields on pioneering approaches to cancer imaging.
Advanced imaging technologies can provide a window into the body to look at how cancer develops and how tumours respond to therapy – and will help accelerate the discovery of new treatments.
Guests at the opening reception had the opportunity to meet some of the 130 scientists and students at the ICR who are now working in the centre, and were offered the opportunity to tour the new facility to see some of the state-of-the art equipment and research in action.
Guests at launch of Centre for Cancer Imaging
Luke Johnson, Chairman of the ICR, welcomed guests to the event.
He said: “The Centre for Cancer Imaging marks a major step forward for the ICR. Having the right capital infrastructure – buildings and equipment – is a critical factor for success in science.
"We have ambitious plans for our Sutton site that will help us to deliver our scientific strategy, to improve our understanding of cancer and develop better treatments.”
The Centre was funded by generous donations from the Wolfson Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation, HEFCE Capital investment and royalty income. Our imaging research also receives support from Cancer Research UK.
Researchers will use cutting-edge equipment such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound and positron emission tomography (PET) scans – all housed in the new Sutton building.
Combining multiple advanced imaging methods will provide a greater depth and breadth of knowledge than use of a single imaging technique alone.
Professor Paul Workman
Professor Paul Workman, Chief Executive of the ICR, said: “The “molecular” imaging technologies that we are using in the centre are important because they are like a window into the body. They allow us to precisely measure whether a cancer drug is hitting its intended protein target, and to measure whether the treatment is having its predicted effect – directly supporting the discovery of new personalised cancer medicine.
“The new centre will not only be a place for developing new imaging technologies, but also a physical location for intense collaboration between many different types of researchers across the ICR and with colleagues in The Royal Marsden. It will involve biologists, chemists, pharmacologists, medical physicists, mathematical and computational scientists, and clinicians working together – a very powerful mix that will allow us to defeat cancer better.”
Professor Freek Beekman
Guests also heard from Professor Freek Beekman, Professor of Radiation, Detection and Medical Imaging at Delft University of Technology, who gave an animated presentation about what is new and visionary in the field of cancer imaging.