London University College Branch to Become Oxford Branch in 2007
In 2007, the ‘London University College Branch’ will leave its current site at the University College London (UCL) and relocate to a new host institution, Oxford University.
The LICR Oxford Branch will be situated within the Institute of Cancer Medicine in a new state of the art building located on the Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxford. The building will be shared with other researchers working in the areas of radiation oncology, clinical pharmacology, bioengineering and structural genomics. The Oxford Branch will also be affiliated to the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine (NDM); part of the Medical Sciences Division of the University of Oxford. The Medical Science Division is ranked third in the world for biomedicine, and is the largest of the University's five academic divisions, with departments located on several hospital sites around Oxford and in the University's Science Area. This prime position lends itself to both collaboration between the University and the LICR, and the LICR’s ability to utilize resources already afforded by this enviable association. LICR Affiliate, Dr. Vincenzo (Enzo) Cerundolo, a leading investigator in the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, is also nearby at the University’s John Radcliffe Hospital.
Branch Director, Dr. Xin Lu, says that the future LICR Oxford Branch
will continue the current Branch’s research focus in the areas
of tumor suppression and cancer metastasis. “The relocation provides
an exciting opportunity for the LICR Oxford Branch to collaborate with the
existing outstanding research community in Oxford University. In
addition, the LICR Oxford Branch will provide a portal for the future interactions
of Oxford University and global LICR researchers and offers extraordinary
opportunities for synergistic research efforts in the fight against
cancer.”
According to Mr. Edward McDermott, Jr. (LICR President and Senior
Executive Officer) there were several reasons for the Institute
to reassess the current location of the Branch at UCL. “The Courtauld
Building, in which the Branch is housed, is physically connected to the
Middlesex Hospital. However, the hospital was shut down last year, with
essential services and space — particularly offices and the meeting room
— being lost. Also, without the interactions afforded by the hospital researchers,
and being removed from the main UCL campus, the Branch was physically isolated.”
Mr. McDermott says that the age of, and increasing maintenance
costs for, the laboratories were also serious concerns.
Four universities/hospitals tabled offers to be the Branch’s new host, and Drs. Xin Lu and Anne Ridley, the Branch’s Director and Associate-Director, respectively, worked with the Scientific Directorate to evaluate the relative advantages of each offer and the choice of a new host. A range of factors were considered, including the size and modernity of the laboratories, scientific and clinical collaborative opportunities, access to technologies and resources, and costs.
Of the groups in the current Branch, Drs. Michael O’Hare and Michael Waterfield (the founding Branch Director) will retire in 2007, while the others have been invited to join the new Branch in Oxford.
This is the second Branch relocation to necessitate a change in name; in 1985 the Montreal (Canada) Branch, headed by Dr. Webster Cavenee, relocated to become the San Diego (USA) Branch.
“I am delighted to be working with Professor Lu to establish an Oxford Branch of the LICR. The linking of cancer research networks within Oxford to the international LICR organization is a most exciting development. We look forward to building on this to establish one of the world’s foremost centres for cancer medicine.”
Professor Peter Ratcliffe, FRS
Head, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine