A professor, based at the Centre for Cancer Immunology, has been appointed to a national role aiming to improve and expand cancer services in the UK.
Peter Johnson, Professor of Oncology, has been named as the UK Government’s new Cancer Mission Chair. The Cancer Healthcare Mission aims to drive progress and innovation in responding to some of the biggest healthcare issues of our times.
The announcement was made as part of the Office of Life Sciences ‘Life Sci for Growth’ package, which aims to boost the Life Sciences sector.
This new role is in addition to Professor Johnson’s role as National Clinical Director for Cancer as well as his University priorities.
He said: “My aim is to ensure we have the best possible alignment between the NHS cancer programme and the mission of Office of Life Sciences to make the UK one of the most pro-innovation healthcare systems in the world, in addition to being a prime destination for research, investment and innovation across medicines, medical technologies and digital health.
“We have already done a lot in this area, ranging from the NHS-Galleri study, the largest randomised trial in the world of a multi-cancer early detection blood test to screen for multiple different types of cancer, to the investigation of artificial intelligence to diagnose cancers sooner in primary care, to working with the makers of mRNA vaccines to accelerate their trials in personalised cancer vaccines.
“The NHS has huge potential to test innovations, and this is an exciting chance to bring the best ideas into clinical testing and practice.”