Annex 6: Summary of the Committee's Visit
to Beatson Oncology Centre, Glasgow
4th July 2000
BEATSON ONCOLOGY CENTRE
The CRC Beatson Oncology Centre is one of the UK's
major resources for cancer research with over 300 scientists working
on a single site. Embedded within the Western Infirmaries, nearly
all the Centre's activities are closely co-ordinated with both
NHS and University of Glasgow staff and there is also close collaboration
with other centres. The main focus of the centre is on translational
research — that is research aimed at consolidating the link
between discoveries made in basic research and improvements in
diagnosis and treatment in the clinic. Glasgow itself has one
of the highest cancer incidence rates in the world.
CRC Beatson Laboratories, Garscube and the Western
Infirmary, Glasgow
Meetings with Professor John Wyke, Director, and
Dr Walter Kolch, Senoir Group Leader, and Dr Ian Ganly, The Beatson
Institute and Professor Stan Kaye, Professor of Medical Oncology,
Professor Robert Brown, Professor of Cancer Therapeutics, Dr Nicol
Keith, Reader in Medical Oncology, Dr John Bartlett, Senior Lecturer
in the Department of Surgery, Dr David Greenlaugh, Senior Lecturer
in the Department of Dermatology, Dr Ruth Jarret, Programme Director
of the Virus Centre, Department of Veterinary Pathology, Dr Gordon
Strathdee, Department on Medical Oncology, and Dr Karen Oien,
Department of Pathology, the University of Glasgow.
Topics discussed:
Clinical research and funding; recent developments
in pharmacology; staffing (shortages, career structures, and training)
in clinical and non-clinical posts; quality of graduates and post-graduates;
post-doctoral training; exploiting research and the importance
of translational research; ethics review committees; funding for
research infrastructure and technology; funding for innovative
enabling technologies; the research assessment exercise; approaches
to translational research; the gap between basic and translational
research; the rôle of industry in cancer research; the UK
market for anti-cancer drugs and its impact on research; importance
of physical location of research facilities.
The Committee also toured the laboratories at
Beatson Laboratories and the Clinical Research Unit at the Western
Infirmary and spoke with patients participating in clinical trials.
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