Abbreviation MRC CU Type Research institute | Formation 2001 Legal status University Unit | |
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Purpose Cancer research in the UK Headquarters Hutchison/MRC Research Centre | ||
The Medical Research Council Cancer Unit is located in Cambridge and was established in 2001. It is based within the Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, which in turn is situated on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
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History
The MRC Cancer Unit was established in 2001 (as the MRC Cancer Cell Unit) by Professor Ron Laskey CBE, who was also appointed as the Unit's first Director. Professor Laskey retired from the Unit in 2010. His successor, and the Unit's current Director, is Professor Ashok Venkitaraman. As well as his position as Director of the MRC Cancer Unit, Professor Venkitaraman is also the Ursula Zoellner Professor of Cancer Research within the University of Cambridge. In October 2013, the Unit joined the University of Cambridge and changed its name to the MRC Cancer Unit.
Research Areas
The Unit has a general research focus on investigating the early stages of epithelial cancers, with an overall goal of improving the detection and treatment of these cancers. There are currently seven active research programmes in the Unit, which cover the following areas: chromosomal instability, Barrett's oesophagus and oesohago-gastric carcinoma, cell fate and cancer, lung tumour evolution, cancer metabolism, lymphatics and the tumour microenvironment, and cancer metastasis.