A new UK-wide partnership has been set up to transform use of cancer data to improve patient care.
DATA-CAN – The Health Data Research UK Hub for Cancer, which the BRC played a key part in setting up, will be hosted by UCLPartners and will work with patients across the UK to bring their clinical data together and use this data to help develop improved cancer treatments, give patients faster access to clinical trials, and understand how we can improve NHS cancer services. The Hub will be supported by patients, charities, clinicians, academic and industry-based researchers and innovators, and will involve cancer hospitals across the UK.
DATA-CAN aims to transform the ability of researchers to use high-quality cancer data, while ensuring all data is held securely and patients can decide how their data might be used. It is one of seven Health Data Research Hubs being set up across the UK to speed up research for new medicines and treatments, support quicker diagnoses and potentially save lives
The Health Data Research Hubs are part of a four-year £37million investment from the Government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), led by UK Research and Innovation, to create a UK-wide system for the safe and responsible use of health-related data on a large scale. The national hub has been founded by researchers in London, Belfast and Leeds. The founding partners are:
- UCLPartners
- Queen’s University Belfast, representing Northern Ireland and Wales
- University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals, representing Yorkshire and Humber
- Genomics England
- IQVIA
DATA-CAN will support the use of data to deliver benefits for patients and healthcare professionals, improve the health of UK citizens, enable world-leading medical research and create new investment in healthcare.
