APPENDIX 24
Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
Dr Peter Rigby, Chief Executive, Institute of Cancer Research
and Miss Cally Palmer, Chief Executive, Royal Marsden NHS Trust
The Institute of Cancer Research was established
in 1909 to carry out research into the causes of cancer and to
develop new strategies for its prevention, diagnosis, treatment
and cure. It works in a unique partnership with the Royal Marsden
NHS Trust, which is the oldest specialist cancer hospital in the
world. The two organisations form the largest comprehensive cancer
centre in Europe and this submission comes jointly from them.
We have a world class reputation for excellence.
We received the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement for
the development of anti-cancer drugs and in the Higher Education
Funding Councils' 1996 Research Assessment Exercise, the Institute
received an institutional ratings score in biomedical research
which ranked it in the top three in the UK. The excellence of
the Royal Marsden's service is publicly recognised by ISO 9001
quality accreditation of its radiotherapy treatment schedules
and by the award of two consecutive government Charter Mark awards
for the quality of its services to patients. We are responsible
for initiating the Cancer Genome Project, which will change the
face of cancer research and treatment. We also co-ordinate extensive
programmes in the development and evaluation of anti-cancer drugs,
and support projects that work to understand the crucial issues
in the ways in which cancer patients are cared for.
The Institute is an exemplar of co-operation
in the cancer community, receiving funds from, and working with,
HEFCE, Research Councils, The Cancer Research Campaign, the Leukaemia
Research Fund, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Macmillan Cancer
Relief. We have extensive relationships with the pharmaceutical
and biotechnology industries to develop new therapies.
The Institute and the Trust would very much
welcome the opportunity to give oral evidence to the Committee.
We also enclose a written submission to the inquiry.
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