Cancer: Research

Through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Department invests in building research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, and support services to support research across all aspects of human health, including cancer.

Since 2006, the NIHR has supported 255 personal career development awards for researchers working on cancer, as well as 542 awards through the NIHR Integrated Academic Training Programme for doctors and dentists, which combines research training with clinical training. The NIHR’s personal career development awards are offered nationally rather than through a dedicated regional clinical cancer fellowship scheme. The NIHR can also prioritise fundable applications by theme, setting, profession, or geography, where appropriate, and where budgets allow. The NIHR also supports the Cancer Research Transatlantic Development and Skills Award and co-funds fellowships with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, focussed on research into brain cancer.

Additionally, the NIHR supports Academic Career Development for Cancer Researchers through its research infrastructure, embedding training and career development opportunities within the centres of research excellence across England.

This includes the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research, England's only NIHR BRC dedicated solely to cancer, which offers programmes such as the Pathway to Independence Programme and post-doctoral fellowships for early career clinical academics. Cancer research capability and training are also supported across the wider NIHR BRC network, with several BRCs undertaking cancer research alongside other areas of biomedical research.

More broadly, NIHR infrastructure provides opportunities for clinical researchers to develop careers in cancer research across the country. The Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres, co-funded by NIHR and Cancer Research UK, form a United Kingdom wide network that brings together laboratory and clinical researchers to develop and test new cancer treatments for adults and children. NIHR Clinical Research Facilities, many of which have specialist expertise in cancer, also provide environments in which clinical researchers can gain experience delivering complex early-phase studies. The NIHR Research Delivery Network also supports the delivery of cancer research across England through its Cancer Specialty, providing national leadership and enabling patients to participate in commercial and non-commercial cancer studies across a wide range of National Health Service organisations. In addition, the new NIHR Brain Tumour Consortium will help develop the next generation of research leaders through career development awards and opportunities embedded within its research programme, supporting the Government's commitment to strengthen brain tumour research capacity.