Headquarters Department of Oncology Phone +44 1865 617331 | Region served United Kingdom | |
Formation 1953 (as Gray Laboratory at Mount Vernon Hospital) Purpose Radiation biology research Location University of Oxford, Oxford Director Professor Gillies Mckenna Affiliations Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)
Cancer Research UK Address Old Road Campus Research Building, Old Road Campus, Off, Roosevelt Dr, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom | ||
The Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology is an institute dedicated to research on radiobiology and radiotherapy. It is funded by the charity Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council and is based at the University of Oxford's Department of Oncology.
History
The institute was founded as the Gray Laboratory at Mount Vernon Hospital by Louis Harold Gray in 1953 as the world's first radiobiological institute. Early research focused on the "Oxygen effect" to improve radio sensitivity of tumours. The institute at Mount Vernon was home to a unique 4MeV heavy ion Van de Graaff accelerator.
Research on the effects of oxygenation has continued, as well as other projects and collaborations including work on proton accelerators. The institute remained at Mount Vernon Hospital until 2008 when it relocated to Oxford after the Gray Laboratory Cancer Research Trust became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University.