2.1 The relationship between the University of Glasgow and the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute
The University of Glasgow and the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute are critical to the establishment of the cancer sciences ecosystem within the West of Scotland, and, together, form the core of the region’s cancer research.
The University of Glasgow was established in 1451 and is a world top 100 university. It has one of the broadest research bases in the UK, with a wide range of disciplines reflected across its academic community. It was recognised in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) for its world-leading research and positive impact on society, with 93.1% of the University’s research recognised as ‘world-leading or internationally excellent’ (University of Glasgow, 2022).
A particular area of strength for the University is its expertise in clinical medicine and health-related disciplines, as reflected in its strong results for these subjects in both the Times Higher Education (49th) and QS (44th) World University rankings (Times Higher Education, 2023; QS Top Universities, 2023). The School of Cancer Sciences, which is part of the University’s College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, plays a significant role in the strength of the University’s reputation in this discipline.
The School of Cancer Sciences carries out a programme of world-class science, with internationally renowned expertise in cancer metabolism, tumour microenvironment, immuno-oncology, radiobiology, pre-clinical murine and fly patient avatars, and genomic testing. The School’s research is directed at understanding the molecular changes that cause cancer and translating these scientific discoveries into new drugs and diagnostic and prognostic tools that benefit cancer patients. The focus on “bench-to-bedside” research is a key differentiator of the approach to cancer sciences in Glasgow. A key enabler of this is the School of Cancer Sciences’ strength in clinical research – with roughly half of its research groups led by clinical academics – helping to foster excellent links with NHS clinicians and ensuring that its research is informed by close engagement with patients. Around 1 in 5 publications from the School are in top 5% cited worldwide, demonstrating that research conducted by Glasgow’s cancer researchers is recognised for its excellence by peers across the globe.
The School of Cancer Sciences is located at the University of Glasgow’s Garscube Campus, which is also home to the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute (formerly Beatson Institute). The CRUK Scotland Institute has long-standing roots in Glasgow and has been located at Garscube since the late 1970s. Such close proximity with the University of Glasgow has allowed the two institutions to form a close association, the strength of which has increased significantly in the past few years, as evidenced by the extent to which staff from both institutions formally collaborate. Moreover, many of the staff within the Institute share joint appointments with the University of Glasgow through the School of Cancer Sciences.
The CRUK Scotland Institute, which is core-funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), is a highly collaborative research institute focused on making discoveries that increase our collective understanding of cancer as a whole-body disease, and drive improvements in treatment and prevention. The Institute has developed an excellent reputation for basic cancer research, particularly for its renowned in vivo modelling. Its research focuses predominantly on cancers defined by Cancer Research UK as those of unmet need, which generally have poor survival outcomes. This includes mesothelioma, hepato-pancreato-biliary cancer, and metastatic colorectal cancer. Several of these cancer types are also at a particularly high incidence in the Scottish population, and the CRUK Scotland Institute’s work in this area has helped set the stage for the broader cancer research landscape in Scotland over the last five years.
The University of Glasgow is one of the CRUK Scotland Institute's key partners. The symbiotic relationship between the two institutions has been supported and strengthened in recent years, aided by the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2022. All group leaders within the Institute now have hybrid University of Glasgow contracts and positions within the School of Cancer Sciences. Similarly, several members of the School of Cancer Sciences have the title of ‘Beatson Associate’, which is assigned to staff who are physically located within the CRUK Scotland Institute and are aligned with its strategic scientific themes. All of the Institute’s PhD students are enrolled at the University, with international students being eligible for discounted tuition fees, which has helped the Institute attract and support the highest calibre students from across the world to study in Glasgow. The MoU also enables an integrated strategy for infrastructure investment in state-of-the-art technology and equipment, ensuring that cancer sciences in Glasgow remain joined-up and at the cutting edge of innovation.
The strengthening of the relationship between the CRUK Scotland Institute and the SCS has also resulted in improved outcomes for both institutions:
For the CRUK Scotland Institute, formal links with University of Glasgow colleagues have increased its scientific critical mass – with several Beatson Associate and SCS staff members obtaining prestigious fellowships or programme grants – and allowed it to benefit from the breadth of the University’s inter-disciplinary research expertise. This arrangement also allows for the more efficient use of resources and joint bids for capital equipment, thereby ensuring greater value for money. Crucially, closer links with University colleagues have allowed the CRUK Scotland Institute to fully harness the West of Scotland’s excellent pathology infrastructure, which includes one of the largest pathology laboratories in Western Europe. This has enhanced the Institute’s renowned in vivo models by ensuring that they more accurately reflect the progression and subtypes of cancer within patients.
For the University, the benefits of the relationship can be seen in the growth of its research portfolio. In 2022, the value of the School of Cancer Sciences’ research awards increased to around £25 million, up from around £16.5 million in 2018. The quality and reputation of the School of Cancer Sciences’ research are further evidenced by its performance within the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) results, as a significant contributor to the College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences submission which saw over 95% of its research recognised as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. Of the nearly 170 FTE staff returned in Unit of Assessment 1 (UoA1), around 33% were attributable to School of Cancer Sciences staff, and almost 29% of that proportion related to staff with joint University-CRUK Scotland Institute contracts. Similarly, of the 425 outputs returned to UoA1, more than 41% were attributable to School of Cancer Sciences staff, and more than 26% of that proportion related to staff with joint contracts.
The strengthening of the two institutions through their close collaboration has, in turn, created an environment that both attracts established world-leading scientists to Glasgow and provides an excellent training ground for early career clinician scientists, with both cohorts attracted by the opportunity to translate their discovery research into relevant cancer models and patient samples.
2.2 Key characteristics of the West of Scotland’s cancer sciences ecosystem
The CRUK Scotland Institute and the SCS sit at the centre of the West of Scotland’s cancer sciences and life sciences ecosystem, the development of which has been shaped by several key factors.
2.2.1 Size and composition of the patient base
The size of the patient base in the region is around 2.8 million (Invest Glasgow, 2023), which accounts for more than 50% of the Scottish population, and makes the region an ideal location for clinical studies and trials of new treatments. In addition to its size, the population is also complex from a health perspective. The region has well-documented and longstanding health inequalities and is marked by the continuing prevalence of chronic diseases and multiple morbidities. Deprivation is a key factor influencing these disparities in health outcomes: recent research conducted by the University of Glasgow highlights the large and persistent inequalities in health between the most and least deprived neighbourhoods in Scotland (Miall et al., 2022). These inequalities also manifest in cancer incidence rates and outcomes. Given that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board comprises the highest proportion of the most deprived data zones in Scotland (Cancer Research UK, 2022b), this is a particular issue for the region.
2.2.2 Breadth and depth of academic expertise in the region
The development of some of the region’s key areas of research strength has been informed by its unique health challenges. At the University of Glasgow, this includes expertise in health inequalities, multi-morbidity, and chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and diabetes. The breadth of expertise that exists across the University, as evidenced by the recent Research Excellence Framework, enables the formation of interdisciplinary teams from diverse disciplines to tackle the region’s biggest health challenges. In relation to cancer sciences, for example, the University can draw on the expertise of clinical oncologists, pathologists, computer scientists, chemists, and clinical trials specialists, as well as public health experts and health economists. For example, in June 2023 two University of Glasgow-led projects received £12million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to engineer novel science and research tools to better understand and predict leukaemia. The University of Glasgow team – who have been supported to success by a range of industry and academic partners, and by Blood Cancer Research UK and Leukaemia Care – straddle multiple disciplines, including the College of Science and Engineering and the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences. This cross-disciplinary approach allows the University to take a whole-systems view of health outcomes within the region and across the UK, seeking to understand not just the biology of disease but the impact of socio-economic factors on health outcomes.
2.2.3 Close collaboration between academia, the NHS, and industry
In addition to the symbiotic relationship between the SCS and the CRUK Scotland Institute themselves, the work of both institutions is supported and enhanced by their close integration with other organisations within this network.
Specifically, a distinctive feature of Glasgow’s life sciences ecosystem is how academia, the NHS, and industrial partners collaborate. This has been exemplified by the development of key infrastructure at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), which is one of the largest acute hospitals in Europe and the first clinical-academic-industry campus worldwide designed around the clinical implementation of precision medicine (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2019). QEUH hosts world-class R&D centres of excellence, including the University of Glasgow-led Imaging Centre of Excellence and Clinical Innovation Zone. It also has one of the largest pathology laboratories in the UK and Europe, as well as a large biorepository that provides academics, clinicians, and industry with access to high-quality clinical data and samples. Such infrastructure is fundamental to the work of both the SCS and the CRUK Scotland Institute. Several other key infrastructure assets are listed in Table 6 in Annex A2.1. This collaboration between industry, academia and the NHS has been characterised as the ‘triple helix’ approach, drawing on the strengths of each partner to catalyse innovative solutions for patient benefit11.
The excellent discovery research carried out by the CRUK Scotland Institute and the University of Glasgow, the close collaboration between academics, clinicians and industry, and the supporting infrastructure within the region (particularly in relation to tissue sampling, genomics, and precision oncology) are crucial to the region’s strengths in cancer sciences. Together, these factors facilitate the translation of research discoveries made in laboratories into clinical pathways, ultimately delivering better outcomes for patients in Glasgow, Scotland, and beyond.
References
- Scottish Government (2021).
Case study 1: Benefits to patients brought by the ‘triple helix’ approach
Patients in the West of Scotland benefit enormously from the specific cancer sciences expertise that exists within the region’s universities, research institutes, health sector, and life sciences companies. But patients themselves also play an important role in shaping the world-leading research and innovation carried out by these organisations.
This is highlighted by efforts to improve the treatment options for malignant mesothelioma, an incurable form of cancer that is also known as the ‘asbestos cancer’, due to its prevalence among those exposed to asbestos. The West of Scotland currently has one of the highest incidences of mesothelioma in the world (and significantly higher incidence rates than the Scottish average), due to the previous widespread use of asbestos in the region’s main industrial sectors, notably in shipbuilding. In addition, given the widespread use of asbestos throughout the UK before its ban in 1999, there are concerns that it is still present in large quantities in municipal buildings (such as schools and hospitals) built before 1999.
Unfortunately, current treatment options for mesothelioma are limited, and those diagnosed with the disease have very poor survival rates. The disease usually appears after decades of exposure, and early symptoms, such as chest pain, fatigue, and constant coughing, can be overlooked because they are similar to other illnesses. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is 18 months (Boggan, 2023).
In response to this significant health challenge, researchers from the University of Glasgow and the CRUK Scotland Institute have recently been awarded £2.1 million by Cancer Research UK to lead the REMIT programme. The programme aims to analyse what happens in the decades between initial exposure to asbestos and diagnosis, and to make it easier to diagnose and treat mesothelioma earlier (University of Glasgow, 2023). REMIT builds on substantial previous Cancer Research UK funding for the world-leading Glasgow-led projects IAMMED-Meso and PREDICT-Meso. The latter uses AI and advanced laboratory and imaging techniques to inform decisions on patient treatment and reduce barriers to the development of new treatments in clinical trials, which are critical for the discovery of new, more effective treatments (University of Glasgow, 2020 and 2021). Together, the three projects help form a comprehensive strategy for early detection, risk stratification, and more effective treatments for mesothelioma patients. This work has been supported by the CRUK Scotland Institute’s unparalleled expertise in cancer modelling, which focuses on cancers of unmet need, including mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma patients in the West of Scotland will benefit enormously from being at the frontline of this research, but its impact will spread beyond Glasgow. Whilst the UK battles with the historic legacy of asbestos use, many countries still do not regulate its use, and the global incidence of mesothelioma will likely continue to increase.