New co-Chairs of the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) Research Advisory Group (RAG) have been appointed, with Professor Ken Mills and Dr Rebecca Hill taking over the role from Professor Karim Malik.
CCLG’s RAG is an integral part of the expert review guidance which underpins the assessment process of new research funding applications. For each new funding scheme, this group of around 20 experts from across the CYP cancer research field meet to provide advice about the quality and clinically relevant of research proposals to help guide CCLG as to which ones to support.
During his tenure as Chair, which began in 2021, Professor Malik, Reader in Epigenetics at the University of Bristol, helped CCLG select 87 pioneering new research projects for funding, which are helping to change the future for children and young people with cancer.
Dr Sarah Evans, Head of Research at CCLG, said:
It’s of vital importance that the funds raised by our amazing supporters and that of our research partners, are used to support excellent research that has the potential to make a huge difference to the care and clinical management of children and young people (CYP) with cancer.
For the past three years, we’ve been extremely fortunate to have had wise leadership from Karim Malik, who has provided us with insightful guidance about which research proposals we should select to add to the CCLG portfolio.
Professor Mills, Professor of Experimental Haematology at Queen's University Belfast, said he was “very excited and honoured” to be taking over the role, “following the excellent Chairing by Prof Karim Malik”. He added:
The RAG review process is very important and essential. The funds that CCLG use to award grants are in the main raised by the hard work and effort of individuals, families or groups who have been affected by cancer in a child or young person.
The RAG recognises this and as such, recognise that they have responsibility to ensure that the highest quality of research is funded and that this research could have an impact on patient outcomes at some time in the future.
Dr Hill, MRC Clinician Scientist & Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Oncology at Newcastle University Centre for Cancer and Great North Children's Hospital, said she is “thrilled” to be taking on the role of co-Chair, and is looking forward to working with CCLG to implement its new research strategy. Dr Hill said:
I’ve been a member of the RAG for over five years. During this time, I have acquired a greater appreciation for the innovative and exciting spectrum of research that is undertaken in childhood and young people’s cancer across the UK.
I’m passionate about the pivotal role our advisory group has in shaping both future research and researchers, and I am thrilled to be taking on this new role. Our group has a combined wealth of expertise and while our current role is mainly to advise funders and score applications there is a real enthusiasm to work in partnership with applicants and funders to develop promising proposals for the future.
As a Medical Research Council Clinician Scientist and Early Career Researcher, I recognise the value of timely, constructive feedback and developing key relationships within the wider research community. I’m therefore keen, in my new role, to work with applicants and funders to enhance the feedback process while also streamlining the review and application systems.
I’m also excited to work with the CCLG team at this time to implement our new research strategy. I firmly support our collaborative mission and believe that the RAG can play an ever-increasing role in bringing the right people together, driving change for children and young people with cancer. While our remit is predominantly translational, we have a variety of funding calls and increasingly aim to develop areas of research that are not typically supported by other funders. Through our review process and collective expertise, we aim to raise the quality of research undertaken in the UK to improve both outcomes and the lived experience of children and young people with cancer.