Image: Dr Matt Clarke speaking at the Discovery event
Members of the The Discovery Club gathered at the Royal Society of Chemistry last month to learn how our research is influencing the cancer patient journey.
In the opening talk, Professor Paul Workman, the ICR’s Chief Executive, welcomed guests and talked about the research vision for the Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery, which is currently under construction. He explained the vital role our scientists play in developing new drugs for cancer patients, while also developing more sophisticated ways of monitoring treatment progress.
Professor Udai Banerji and Dr Matt Clarke illustrated, in more detail, how significant advances in technology and imaging have led to a greater understanding of the unique nature of each patient's tumour and the opportunities this provides for personalised medicine.
Dr Clarke explained how advances in imaging and pathology are allowing babies and children to receive tailored treatments, leading to significant tumour reduction and improved outcomes and quality of life.
Following the formal talks, six stands showcased examples of our work in the fields of biopsy, tumour profiling, histology and imaging. Guests were invited to take part in a series of experiments and hands-on demonstrations, including extracting DNA from a strawberry.
The evening ended with a broadcast of our Unfinished Symphony video, in which the music abruptly cuts to silence to symbolise the need to raise funds to finish our revolutionary new research building and to find new treatments for cancer. The video was extremely well received by the audience, with many saying they found the short film 'very moving'.
We are building a new state-of-the-art drug discovery centre to create more and better drugs for cancer patients.
Find our more
The Discovery Club offers a regular series of events for our high-level donors who are invited to join us for an evening to hear from some of our leading scientists and clinicians about their work. Through their philanthropic contributions, members help us drive forward our research in key areas of priority for our scientific strategy.