Hello and welcome to the first Research Roundup post of 2023! Here at CCLG, we are all excited for the new year. We’ve got events to look forward to, like our Annual Meeting that brings together childhood cancer experts from across the country, our second Gala Dinner, marathons, lab visits and more. And, in the research team, we can’t wait to see the progress of our fantastic researchers.
However, before 2022 fades into distant memory, we wanted to take a moment to look back at everything CCLG achieved this year for childhood cancer research. Let’s take a look!
Our numbers
For the very first time, this year we have been part of funding over £6,000,000 of research. Sarah Evans, CCLG’s Head of Research, said, “It is fantastic that, in the space of only six years, we have gone from funding around £600,000 of research to £6 million. When we started funding research in 2016, we knew CCLG could make a difference for children with cancer. But I’m not sure that we could have predicted such a vast increase in the number and value of our research projects.
"As the research manager, I love the variety of the research projects that we’ve been able to support across many different children’s cancer types. Our research is already forming the foundation for new approaches aimed at improving patient care, and I really believe that our research will increasingly lead to a big impact on the world of childhood cancer.”
Part of our commitment to funding research is our promise that we will fund research into all cancer types – no child is forgotten. Not only have we supported research into rare cancers like retinoblastoma this year, we have also opened grant calls for atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumours, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and Langerhans cell histiocytosis so that we can fund more research early this year.
Our partnerships
We are proud to be leading a childhood cancer research funding network. We all want to change the future for children with cancer, and by working together we can achieve so much more. In 2022, we worked with three other cancer charities, including The Little Princess Trust (LPT).
Our special partnership with the LPT is integral to our research funding. The partnership combines their funds with our research expertise. We run and manage the LPT’s extensive research programme and ensure that only the best research is funded. We’re proud to have supported the LPT to hit a lifetime milestone of £21 million invested into research.
CCLG has been crucial to us to ensure that we can fund more research that is valuable and has great scientific excellence, whilst helping the researchers achieve their full potential.
Wendy Tarplee-Morris, LPT
Our people
This year, we’ve had a new focus on sharing our research and engaging our supporters. I began working as the first Research Communications Executive in March 2022 and, with help from our fantastic Comms team and researchers, started this blog to share the world of childhood cancer research with parents, the public, and supporters.
One of my favourite days this year was taking two of our rhabdomyosarcoma Special Named Fund families, the Crowthers and the Stewarts, to meet Dr Janet Shipley at the Institute of Cancer Research. Janet has two research projects that are funded by Special Named Funds and kindly agreed to show us all around her lab, explain her work, and even let us have a go at some common lab tasks. You can read more about the visit, but please watch the video below to really see the impact the visit had on our fantastic Special Named Fund families.
Our experts
In November, we started a free webinar series called CCLG Research Talks. The aim is to let parents and the public learn about different types of cancer and research from the experts. The first webinar, called ‘How does kidney cancer research work?’ was led by Professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones, a world expert in a type of kidney cancer called Wilms tumour. There were over 90 sign-ups, and attendees said that they really valued hearing about Wilms tumour from someone with such in-depth knowledge.
Dr Jess Morgan, expert reviewer and parent and patient involvement enthusiast, gave her presentation last month, called ‘How do you out-google Google?’. She was sharing her research project that aims to assess all of the up-and-coming rhabdomyosarcoma treatments and present the information in one easy to access location. Hopefully, this will ensure parents can access quality information without resorting to Google and the bewildering array results that come with it.
The webinar series is continuing this year with Dr Suzanne Turner’s talk on improving quality of life for children with lymphoma. If you'd like to watch, you can sign up for a free ticket.
Making progress
Overall, 2022 has been a busy year. There’s been so many research projects funded, and a fantastic amount invested into research with the support of The Little Princess Trust. Other advances this year include the completion of the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership, which tells us what the top ten priorities for childhood cancer research are, joining the National Cancer Research Institute to advocate for childhood cancer research, the return of our in-person annual meeting to connect professionals working in childhood cancer, and making progress in the Childhood Cancer Smart study which aims to improve diagnosis times and save lives.
Ashley Gamble, CCLG CEO said: “I’m really proud of all that we have achieved with our research programme this year, including funding innovative new projects, strengthening our partnership with Little Princess Trust, and welcoming new partners to our funding network.
I’m delighted we have now published the top 10 priorities for children’s cancer research, ensuring that the views of patients, their families and the professionals who treat and care for them are at the heart of our research activity.
Ashley Gamble, CCLG CEO
“As always, there is more work to be done. In 2023, we’ll be updating our research strategy to ensure it reflects the top 10 priorities, and extending our direct research funding - including investing in new research internships for nurses and allied health professionals interested in exploring research as part of their career paths.
“As always, this has only been possible with the support of our fantastic researchers, fundraisers, donors, and charity partners. Thank you to each and every one of you!”
Ellie Wilkinson is CCLG’s Research Communication Executive.
She is using her lifelong fascination with science to share the world of childhood cancer research with CCLG’s fantastic supporters.
You can find Ellie on Twitter: @EllieW_CCLG