Research data held within the Clinical Immunology Service will be transformed into an important resource for myeloma research thanks to new funding.
Research data held within the Clinical Immunology Services (CIS) – soon to be based within the PHTA – will be transformed into an important resource for myeloma research thanks to £75k funding from the Cancer Research Horizon’s Data Innovation Award.
Having provided central laboratory analysis for UK myeloma clinical trials over the past 30 years, the CIS has amassed a wealth of data and samples which will now be curated to develop the Integrated UK Myeloma Trials Resource. CIS director Professor Alex Richter and Drs Jennifer Heaney and Tracey Chan will lead from the University of Birmingham, working in close collaboration with he University of Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit and the University of Warwick Clinical Trials Unit.
Professor Alex Richter said: “This grant enables us to turn decades of collected data and samples into a robust resource for further advancing myeloma research. Our goal is to leverage this information to make meaningful strides in patient outcomes.”
Dr Tracey Chan commented: “These trials have been pivotal in improving both treatment and testing strategies for patients with myeloma. However, it remains an incurable cancer and we still need to find more ways to improve the lives of people living with myeloma.”
The team will also be supported to develop a long-term data-sharing strategy including governance around how academics and industry will be able to apply for access. The award will support establishing consent and background agreement status, across trials, to ensure that all the necessary approvals and rights are in place to enable safe, secure and transparent data access for appropriate third parties, including commercial entities.
The UK Myeloma Research Alliance will collaborate on the project, with the team’s ultimate vision being to link the Integrated UK Myeloma Trials Resource to wider clinical data sets providing an unparalleled resource to interrogate across numerous clinical trials. This will lay the foundations to support biobanking for all future myeloma trials in the UK to leverage maximum benefit for patients.
Research data, including clinical/patient and discovery datasets, is becoming an increasingly important tool in cancer research and has the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes.
The aim of the Data Innovation Awards is to maximise the impact of data collected or generated under CRUK-funded research projects that may have commercial value.
The CIS is based within the Precision Health Technologies Accelerator at No.1 BHIC (Birmingham Health Innovation Campus).
