We’re launching our new Research Progress Report

We’re thrilled to launch our new Research Progress Report, which shares the amazing impact of our research funding from 2017-2022.

When we launched our research strategy ‘Unlocking the Key to the Cures’ in 2017, we set out four priorities for our research support, all working towards our vision of a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer:

• To improve the prevention, early detection, and treatment of bowel cancer
• To enable patients to influence and shape the future of bowel cancer research
• To assist and facilitate high quality bowel cancer research by building the UK bowel cancer research capacity and the future research leaders of tomorrow
• To facilitate collaboration and cooperation across the bowel cancer research community

The 17 grants awarded during this time, worth £1.34 million, have covered different aspects of bowel cancer including prevention, screening, people with high risk, and young people.

Read our new Research Progress Report to learn about our researchers’ results in more detail. Some highlights include:

• We awarded our first Surgical Research Chair in partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons of England to Professor David Jayne at the University of Leeds. He’s used this post to drive forward surgical clinical trial research, develop new surgical treatments, and support the next generation of clinical researchers
• Professor Sir John Burn, at Newcastle University, has set up a national Lynch syndrome registry, the first of its kind in the world, to gather information that will improve how this genetic condition is diagnosed and managed
• Dr Juliet Usher-Smith, at the University of Cambridge, explored ways to improve the bowel screening programme. Her results show that including genetic and lifestyle information about risk, as well as age, to determine when people start their screening could improve how effective screening is
• Our surgical research fellowships, which support trainee surgeons to complete an independent research project, have supported five surgeons to become active members of the research community

The findings from across the 17 grants have been shared in 112 publications, a vital way for the research community to share their latest results. Our researchers have spoken about their work in person at scientific conferences, patient groups and community events and sit on key committees to steer the wider field of bowel cancer research and treatment.

With the results from their Bowel Cancer UK grants, they’ve also been able to secure a further £11.96 million in grants and partnerships to keep building on their work. That means for every £1 that we spent, it has led to a further £8.93 being invested in research which will make a difference to people affected by bowel cancer – an amazing example of the power of your support.

We’re so proud of what has been achieved under our previous research strategy. Our new strategy will be launching this summer, and looking back at our past grants has only made us more excited for what our current and future projects will do.

• Find out more about our research achievements
• Learn more about our current research
• We want to see a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer. It's an ambitious goal, and one we're determined to achieve. Join us.

Photo credit: Brendan Foster Photography