Cure Leukaemia has announced the 12 centres across the UK that will receive funding from the charity for a three-year period from January 2020 to form the Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) Network.
The centres receiving funding are:
- Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow
- Belfast City Hospital, Belfast
- Churchill Hospital, Oxford
- King’s College Hospital, London
- Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
- Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield
- Southampton General Hospital, Southampton
- St James’s University Hospital, Leeds
- The Christie, Manchester
- University College Hospital, London
- University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff
The successful centres were selected from 21 applications by an International Peer Review Panel, chaired by Professor Alessandro Rambaldi from the University of Milan, to receive dedicated specialist research nurse funding for the three-year period from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2022. Grants of £50,000 per year will be paid to these institutions by Cure Leukaemia to support the employment of a research nurse who will work closely with the TAP Hub at the University of Birmingham to deliver practice informing trials in blood cancer.
Building on the successful track record of the TAP programme, previously solely funded by Bloodwise from 2011-2019, patients, from a catchment region of 20 million people, will have access to the wave of new drug and cellular therapies which promise to transform the outcomes for patients with blood cancer.
Blood cancer remains the third biggest cancer killer in the UK with approximately 38,000 people diagnosed and 14,000 losing their lives to the disease every year. The funding will not only give blood cancer patients that have exhausted standard treatments for the disease hope through recruitment to pioneering new clinical trials, but also help continue global progress towards finding effective treatments for all forms of blood cancer.
The formation of this network has been largely thanks to the transformational UK Charities of the Year partnership with Deutsche Bank, which is predicted to be worth in excess of £2.5m when it comes to an end on December 31st.
Global Head of Brand Communications and CSR, Deutsche Bank, Lareena Hilton said:
“The announcement of the funded centres perfectly highlights the significant positive impact that Deutsche Bank’s UK staff have had on not only Cure Leukaemia but also patients battling blood cancer across the country. Our employees should be immensely proud to have helped propel this charity nationwide and we look forward to maximising the remaining months of our partnership with Cure Leukaemia.”
Professor John Snowden, consultant haematologist at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield said:
“We are delighted to have been selected as a funded centre in the Cure Leukaemia TAP network. It emphasises the great strides our team has made here in Sheffield and we look forward to undertaking early phase trials for the benefit of our patients.”
Cure Leukaemia Chief Executive James McLaughlin said: “Sending the letters of confirmation to the 12 centres was a hugely significant moment for Cure Leukaemia and a proud one for myself as Chief Executive. We are so grateful to Deutsche Bank for their transformational support and also the thousands of people from within the CL Family who have played their part in our growth over the last five years.
“Whilst it was pleasing to give 12 centres good news there were 9 centres that did not receive the news they wanted. This emphasises that more has to be done to allow all centres access to this funding in the future and we intend to explore ways in which this can be achieved in due course.
“Whilst thousands of patients stand to benefit from the 12 funded centres, many more are also missing out on these potentially life saving treatments and I would encourage businesses and individuals across the UK to help us ensure we can accept all applications in the future.”
Those willing to help Cure Leukaemia realise its vision should visit www.cureleukaemia.co.uk and contact the team for more information.
England football Manager Gareth Southgate, BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker and Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster have shown their support for Cure Leukaemia with videos congratulating the charity for its national expansion. Watch the videos here: https://youtu.be/dZ4Hk1HMTwk
About Cure Leukaemia
Founded in 2003 by Professor Charlie Craddock CBE and patients Graham Silk and Michael Woolley, Cure Leukaemia helps to bring pioneering drug and transplant treatments to blood cancer patients. The charity helps finance the internationally renowned Centre for Clinical Haematology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, to fund life-saving, and sometimes world first, clinical trials to treat patients with blood cancer who have exhausted standard treatment options. To date, Cure Leukaemia has helped to treat over 4000 patients by leveraging over £25m worth of revolutionary drugs and funding crucial research nurses to administer these trials.
Without the expert research nurses to ensure patients are constantly monitored and cared for; these trials would not run and patients would miss the opportunity to access potentially life-saving therapies. The aim of Cure Leukaemia is to raise money to fund more research nurses and provide world-class treatment for its patients. Only by funding more nurses in more hospitals, can more blood cancer patients benefit from access to potentially life-saving treatment.