CRUK City of London Centre
The Cancer Research UK (CRUK) City of London (CoL) Centre is a centre of excellence in cancer biotherapeutics and brings together researchers from the CRUK Barts Centre, University College, London, King's College, London and the Francis Crick Institute. The CRUK CoL Centre will develop a unique focus within the CRUK Centres Network by tackling the challenge of cancer evolution through the development of biological therapies and accompanying diagnostics/stratification strategies for cancer, primarily aimed at harnessing the power of the immune system to control a rapidly evolving tumour entity.
The CRUK Barts Centre will focus on developing and maximising the impact of biological therapies, and using our expertise in cancer evolution and tumour heterogeneity to improve targeting of biotherapies. Each partner institute will contribute their different research interests and expertise in different tumour sites, accelerating trials and outcomes of research for cancers of unmet need in adults and children.
By exploring the interplay between the next generation of biological therapies and other precision approaches to cancer within a tumour evolutionary framework, the CRUK CoL Centre will develop novel combination approaches with enhanced potency and selectivity, complementing other major centre programmes within the CRUK network.
The CRUK CoL Centre promotes local collaboration between universities, other research organisations, and NHS hospitals, facilitating the delivery of CRUK's strategic objectives in translational research.
A commitment to training
A key priority of the CRUK CoL Centre is to train, mentor and equip the next generation of basic and physician scientists with multi-disciplinary biotherapeutics skills. The Centre will sponsor multi-disciplinary PhD studentships and clinical fellowships that fall within its research strategy with particular emphasis on research placements/training courses to fully utilise the expertise between the Centre partners.