Image: Houses of Parliament. Credit: Ollie Richards
In the last Parliament, despite some frustrations when it came to science, we did make huge progress in some areas. We had new targets for research and development (also known as R&D) investment, the creation of a new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology with a Secretary of State for Science sitting around the cabinet table for the first time and a renewed interest in importance of research off the back of the Covid-19 pandemic showing the power science can have on not only the health but also the wealth of the UK. However, despite this progress, science does not, and cannot, stand still and it cannot and must not have a Government or a Parliament that does either.
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Providing hope
Just in the last 100 days, researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research have been involved in the publication of more than 150 research papers – amounting to more than 1.5 papers a day – releasing a huge array of new, exciting research outlining advancements they’ve made in our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Simply put, these new papers are new and innovative pieces of research that move us one day closer to the day that we defeat cancer.
Most importantly, these updated findings provide hope to the millions of people in the UK, and millions more around the world, who are affected by cancer. They provide hope to people like me, whose hope for the presence of loved ones at future anniversaries and milestones hinges on the continued progress of the latest, most innovative drugs and treatments.
The findings released in these papers were years in the making and were underpinned by painstaking amounts of trial and error. This is how science works, and it is why we need stability underpinning the vital work our researchers are doing. This stability, and the confidence is fosters, is crucial as it allows research teams time to forward plan and utilise the full length of their grants.
Sustainable and reliable funding
This stability also needs to translate to a number of policy areas – funding is an obvious one. A sustainable and reliable funding model is a prerequisite for a country wanting to excel in science. As a country where a large majority of our research takes place in universities (87 per cent of AMRC member grants) we cannot continue on the path we’re on with the unsustainable funding models that universities are currently working with.
We at the ICR know only too well of the shortfalls of the UK’s current funding schemes. If we take just the Charity Research Support Fund (CRSF), which is vital funding from the Government to help cover the indirect costs to universities of research which is funded by charity grants. The declining value of this fund is having a huge impact on smaller, specialist institutions like the ICR.
In fact, in 2022-2023, for research activity funded by UK charities, we recovered less than 60 per cent of the ‘full economic costs’ of this research activity which translated to a deficit of almost £30m. We need an urgent uplift to the CRSF to provide stability to charity funded research happening in our universities.
Attracting the world's brightest researchers
When it comes to attracting the world’s best talent to complete their research in the UK, we also need to do better and provide stability. Recent Royal Society modelling showed that total upfront visa costs are up to seventeen times higher in the UK compared to the average of other leading science nations.
At the ICR, being a global institution is part of what makes us successful and international talent is a key part of our research workforce. More than 35 per cent of our staff are from outside of the UK and we have staff from 67 different countries.
To keep pushing the boundaries of cancer research and discovering new tests and treatments, we need to be able to recruit and retain the best talent in their respective fields. Put simply, it is not sustainable to have barriers of this magnitude in the way of attracting the best global talent when we are competing with the leading universities, institutes and companies across Europe and the USA. We need to do better and make the UK a much more attractive destination for the best and brightest researchers.
However, alongside needing reliable consistency, science also needs to be able to be nimble and innovative and move fast when our researchers need it to. In this scenario, we need the Government’s support, not hinderance.
Revolutionising clinical trials
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw in clinical trials, for example, the UK leading the way with the 2020 RECOVERY trial. Clinical trials are vital to cancer research and with the NHS facing huge challenges in cancer treatment and a growing burden of cancer cases in the UK, as highlighted by the recent report by Lord Darzi, now more than ever we need to be able to replicate the innovation and nimble-ism of RECOVERY across the cancer clinical trials portfolio.
Through our partnership with The Royal Marsden and close relationships with NHS hospitals around the country, academics at the ICR lead and work on high-profile clinical trials taking place across the entire NHS. Therefore, despite the recent (and welcome) focus on the rejuvenation of clinical trials, we know only too well of the continued difficulties facing the clinical trials ecosystem.
When it comes to the continued delays on approvals and bureaucratic barriers in the way of setting up a trial, we know there is still so much more we can do as these barriers are, again, the antithesis of our ambition to be a global leader in this space.
With the ambition we showed during Covid, we could revolutionise what it means to both set up and join a clinical trial in the UK and with the unique asset of the national health service, we have the real potential to be world-leading in both clinical trials and also the speedy adoption of the latest, evidence based, tests and treatments – ensuring NHS patients rapidly get access to the hope that is the latest, kindest and most innovative treatments.
The challenge facing cancer research and UK science is daunting, but it is not insurmountable – we need to approach this challenge in the same way our researchers face theirs – by looking at the evidence, listening to experts and acting accordingly. 100 days in, we need this Government to go full steam ahead and back science to help us continue making the discoveries that defeat cancer.