Spoke at The Prostate Cancer Charity International Research Conference yesterday. At Central Hall in London. I've always wanted to speak there ever since attending student politics conferences there in the eighties. Including one where a mesmerising Norman Tebbit full took the wind out of the sails of several thousand heckling, noisy and angry youths. I … Continue reading It’s not that simple…getting onto a clinical trial
Author: simondenegri
Care of the elderly: Where did we all go wrong?
Care of the elderly has always been an issue close to my heart. As a schoolboy I would spend one afternoon each week visiting a frail and vulnerable woman in her eighties who lived on a nearby estate. I would help her around the house and with her garden. She was prone to falls. The … Continue reading Care of the elderly: Where did we all go wrong?
Sir Francis Crick Institute gains an Imperial partner
From the Imperial College London website this afternoon announcing they are joining the Francis Crick Institute partnership. Call me an old softie but I was rather touched by the recounting of the time capsule story. I'm only down the road in Camden, I wonder if Ovarian Cancer Action could apply to become the next partner? … Continue reading Sir Francis Crick Institute gains an Imperial partner
Manning and crowd weigh in on NHS reforms at the eleventh hour
Goodness me the nation's health must be in peril if the Royal Colleges have kicked off their slippers and downed their pipes to emerge like Dad's Army into the affray about the NHS reforms. All seems to rest now on those of their number who reside in the Upper House. How peculiarly English but ultimately unsatisfactory … Continue reading Manning and crowd weigh in on NHS reforms at the eleventh hour
Promoting clinical trial participation
This coming week I am speaking at The Prostate Cancer Charity's national conference. 20 minutes on public engagement including questions and answers. My first call to action to the audience is likely to be about encouraging patient participation in clinical trials. Compared to five or even one year ago there now seems a great deal … Continue reading Promoting clinical trial participation
Francis Crick Institute – work gets underway
I pass the site of the new Francis Crick Institute - formerly known as UKCMRI - every day on my way to work. Here's a photo of it that I took yesterday evening. Not the best photo I admit but it was rather windy and I had my hands full. I'll try and remember to … Continue reading Francis Crick Institute – work gets underway
How long can the Government continue living in a box before UK science unravels completely?
There is an article in today's Times Higher Education (THES) about a report from Science is Vital campaign on the current crisis in the career structure for scientists entitled: Careering Out of Control: A Crisis in the UK Science Profession? You can also read more on the Guardian blog. Looking through a wider lense still, … Continue reading How long can the Government continue living in a box before UK science unravels completely?
NIHR Annual Report Published
A quick aside to alert you to the fact that the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has published its annual report for 10/11.
CERN revisited: The one in which I find domestic bliss with super broccoli and Einstein
Such is the wasteland of science funding, that I applied to Bromley Borough Council two weeks ago for a week's project grant to see if I could replicate the CERN experiment that has reportedly turned Einstein's theory of special relativity on its head. I am pleased to report that councillors were persuaded by this opportunity … Continue reading CERN revisited: The one in which I find domestic bliss with super broccoli and Einstein
New stem cell centre in the UK announced
This from The Guardian /Observer stable in the early hours of Sunday with a quote from the Science Minister, David Willetts MP. The article says the centre is likely to be located in the South East (Sandwich perhaps where Pfizer recently closed it's facility?). £30 million of funding from a mix of public and private … Continue reading New stem cell centre in the UK announced
EU clinical trials push by broad UK coalition
Good to see a broad coalition of UK organisations including AMRC issue this joint statement today urging for the ongoing revision of EU Clinical Trials Directive to culminate in less bureaucracy for funders and others when setting up and running trials. No one would argue with the need to put patient safety first but I … Continue reading EU clinical trials push by broad UK coalition
Medics lance the cancer care costs boil….Lancet Oncology Commission reports
....I've updated this since last night with a link [here] to the interview that Evan Davis did with Karol Sikora and Peter Johnson (Cancer Research UK) on 'The Today' programme this morning about the Lancet Oncology Commission. It really is worth a listen. It is a long time since I heard 10 mins being given … Continue reading Medics lance the cancer care costs boil….Lancet Oncology Commission reports
Ovarian cancer research: a new perspective and a great example of the impact of medical research charities on science
I do not normally devote the front page of my blog to the day job but on this occasion I hope you will agree that the news merits it. Today Nature Reviews Cancer have published online in their October 2011 issue a perspective piece entitled 'Rethinking ovarian cancer.' The article, co-authored by the leading international scientists in … Continue reading Ovarian cancer research: a new perspective and a great example of the impact of medical research charities on science
Government says a fatal error has occurred on the NHS IT Programme…SUS IT OUT
Woke up this morning to news of the Government's dismantling of the NHS IT programme. Is it me or does it feel like this policy has been dismantled more times than a tower of toy bricks on a nursery floor? Nicholas Timmins commented in his FT blog today that it isn't really a dismantling and … Continue reading Government says a fatal error has occurred on the NHS IT Programme…SUS IT OUT
The Information Standard and its part in my downfall
I get grumpier as I get older. Fact. Some things I have only recently become grumpy about. Like trolley bags; the fact that their owners always stop at the top of moving elevators trailing their bag in everyone's way as if it has suddenly been rendered immobile by a tranquilliser gun. Other things I have … Continue reading The Information Standard and its part in my downfall
Cancer Research UK does not have all the answers..and that’s an invitation to the rest of us
I see that Cancer Research UK last week put out a press statement about the need for the UK to have strategic vision for medical research. You can find further details on their blog and they also issued a document entitled 'Building the Right Environment for Medical Research.' Thoughtfully the announcement and document have been … Continue reading Cancer Research UK does not have all the answers..and that’s an invitation to the rest of us
CF Trust funding shortage first of many research charity SOS calls?
There is a story in the Observer today about the Cystic Fibrosis Trust issuing a funding SOS to raise #6 million to keep its gene therapy consortium on the road. I also heard from a friend this week who described to me a direct mailing they had from another charity with more or less the … Continue reading CF Trust funding shortage first of many research charity SOS calls?
Obama the inventor..and RCUK’s call on public engagement
Saw this on the Research!Amercia blog today and thought it was worth posting. It is a summary (taken from Lillyblog) of the Invent Act that President Obama signed into US law yesterday . There is more than a hint of some recent-ish UK initiatives such as the Office of Life Sciences blueprint in the US … Continue reading Obama the inventor..and RCUK’s call on public engagement
No research about us, without us
On my way back from the INVOLVE symposium replete with new ideas and fresh energy. Thanks to my fellow symposiastas. My blog headline is actually a rephrasing of the Government's mantra about the NHS reforms as expressed by one of our number this morning. I could not have put it better. The feeling of those … Continue reading No research about us, without us
The one in which I uncover the secret plan behind the NHS reforms
Thank goodness for INVOLVE. What a dispiriting week it had been until today and the first day of our annual symposium. From the gloom of a meeting on Monday in which all hope of progress on a beloved public engagement project seemed to evaporate - when did we all become consumed by the bean counting … Continue reading The one in which I uncover the secret plan behind the NHS reforms
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