Wednesday 3rd December
Scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Hospital have been named as the 2008 winners at the Medical Futures Innovation Awards ceremony celebrating clinical and commercial excellence (Dec 2).
Dr Chris Parker, Professor Nandita Desouza and Dr Nick Van As were selected from a field of more than 100 leading scientists to win the Patient Care Innovation Award for Cancer.
The Medical Futures Innovation Awards are a unique UK based awards programme that sets out to help healthcare professionals and academics turn their ideas into tangible solutions that can improve patient care.
The scientists received the award for their proposal to use a specialised imaging technique to dramatically improve the way prostate cancer is diagnosed.
The majority of prostate cancers are essentially harmless - also known as “pussycat” prostate cancers, but it can often be difficult to distinguish them from the harmful ones, known as “tigers”.
Dr Parker from the Everyman Centre at The Institute, and the Royal Marsden Hospital explains:
“There is a real need to find a way of diagnosing the tigers, without finding the pussycats. Scans using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may have the potential to fulfil this need, he says.
“This scan is already in use to determine the extent of the disease in men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. What the team has proposed is to use the scan as a tool to select which men get a prostate biopsy in the first place. Used in this way, it may avoid tens of thousands of unnecessary biopsies every year, and prevent the “over diagnosis” of harmless prostate cancers.“
The judges selected winners based on three principal criteria: novelty; impact on patient care and its viability, whether that is clinical, technical or commercial.
Professor Andy Goldberg, founder of Medical Futures comments:
“This project demonstrated beautifully how technology could be used to improve service design and patient care and we would like to see it developed further.”
Dr Parker’s position is partly funded by Cancer Research UK.
Professor deSouza is from The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Hospital. Dr Van As is from The Royal Marsden Hospital.
-ENDS-
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Everyman is a campaign run by The Institute of Cancer Research, to raise awareness and fund research into testicular and prostate cancer at The Everyman Centre - Europe’s first and only centre dedicated to male cancer research.
The Institute of Cancer Research is Europe’s leading cancer research centre with expert scientists working on cutting edge research. It was founded in 1909 to carry out research into the causes of cancer and to develop new strategies for its prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. For more information visit www.icr.ac.uk
- Prostate cancer has overtaken lung cancer to become the most common cancer in men affecting almost 35,000 men every year in the UK. One man dies of prostate cancer in the UK every hour.
- Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in men aged between 15 and 44, with about 2,000 cases a year in the UK. Incidence is increasing dramatically - by almost four-fold in the past 50 years, but thanks to advances made at Everyman, testicular cancer is 99 per cent curable if caught early, and with treatment the overall cure rate is 95 per cent.
ABOUT THE MEDICAL FUTURES INNOVATION AWARDS
The Medical Futures Innovation Awards are a unique UK based Awards process that helps healthcare professionals and academics turn their ideas into tangible solutions that can improve patient care.
The Awards, run by a team of doctors, businessmen and media and communication experts, are part of a wider offering that includes educational and networking events between industry and the medical profession and in 2008, over 1000 ideas have been submitted via the website www.medicalfutures.co.uk.
By entering the Medical Futures Awards process, front line clinicians and academics have the chance to pitch their ideas in a Dragon’s Den style to a world-class panel of experts including the likes of Sir Bruce Keogh, Medical Director for the NHS; Baroness Susan Greenfield, Director of the Royal Institution; and Tom Ilube, Co-Founder of Egg Internet Bank.
The Judges select winners based on three principle criteria: - novelty; impact on patient care and its viability, whether that is clinical, technical or commercial.
As well as the critical recognition and endorsement of a Medical Futures Innovation Award, winners receive a bespoke package of support to turn ideas into viable propositions that have credibility with investors. This may include assistance in articulating their idea; securing funding; and introductions to professional and commercial contacts vital in taking their idea to the next level.
The 2008 Awards ceremony takes place on 2nd December and consists of an exhibition held during the day and an evening awards ceremony. During the day winners can showcase their idea, network, and participate in press interviews. The overall winners in each category are presented with their award during the evening ceremony which includes a guest list of
over 800 including celebrities, business leaders and key medical and scientific opinion leaders.
To find out more about the Medical Futures Innovation Awards, please contact Roseann Ward or Tola Awogbamiye on +44(0)844 8700056 www.medicalfutures.co.uk