India and the United Kingdom to Lead a Five Year Collaborative Research Programme on Cancer

India and the United Kingdom will be working together to carry out a collaborative research programme on Cancer. The programme was launched on Wednesday and the overall expenditure for the programme will be around GBP 10M.

Through the collaborative programme, experts from India and the UK will address issues of prevention, affordability, and care of cancer through clinical research. The programme is allocated for the duration of five years. India’s Department of Biotechnology and Cancer Research UK have jointly funded the programme.

The programme’s research phase will be handled by a board of directors which includes members both India and the UK. For the India-UK Cancer Research Initiative’s Advisory Panel, David Hunter, a professor of the University of Oxford will serve as the chairman and Dr. C.S. Ramesh will be the co-chairperson. 

A memorandum of understanding was signed by Renu Swarap (Secretary of India’s Department of Biotechnology) and prof. Leszek Borysiewicz (Chairperson of Cancer Research UK). The event was attended by various representatives, clinicians, scientists, epidemiologists, researchers and public health professional of the industry.

The programme aims to deliver a catalyzing platform for both researchers and scientist from India and the UK. It will help them to develop solutions at a cost6 effective rate that would improve cancer outcomes across the world

Cancer, the global epidemic needs new fundamental approaches through multi-national and disciplinary efforts.