Professor William Gallagher:

The cancer burden across the island of Ireland is enormous. Practically every family is affected in some way by the imprint of this disease. A core foundation for our current mission to establish a fully integrated approach to cancer research, was the All-Ireland Cancer Consortium, AICC, which arose as a tangible output of the Good Friday Agreement. This tripartite cancer research and training agreement between the Departments of Health of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US National Cancer Institute - one of the premier cancer institutes in the world - was first signed at Government Buildings Stormont in October 1999.

This groundbreaking agreement was recently re-invigorated on 16 March this year in the form of a revised memorandum of understanding which was signed by the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, Department of Health; the Minister, Robin Swann MLA, Department of Health, Northern Ireland; and Dr. Norman Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute. This historic occasion for cancer patients, cancer research and cancer care on the island of Ireland saw statements of support from: An Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin; former First Minister, Arlene Foster MLA; Deputy First Minister, Michelle O'Neill MLA; and Mr. Norris Cochrane, former Acting Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

In his St. Patrick’s Day meeting with the Taoiseach, US President Biden expressed his renewed commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and referred to this consortium and how all parties could learn from one another and improve outcomes for cancer patients. The impact of this cross-Border and transatlantic collaboration has been very substantial. An evaluation of the consortium’s activities over the past 21 years found that this partnership significantly increased both the quality and quantity of research across the island of Ireland, contributed to saving thousands of lives and enhanced the quality of life of cancer survivors.

Among many of these achievements have been the establishment of a cancer clinical trials infrastructure for the island, a cancer prevention fellowship programme, and an All-Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care.

Building on this success, our aim now is to establish an all-island cancer research institute, AICRI. This will be a virtual institute, focusing on bringing together cancer researchers across the island, from the laboratory bench to the hospital setting in an integrated, team-based approach. We are currently putting together an ambitious, comprehensive and cross-cutting cancer research programme involving multiple stakeholders. These stakeholders include academic, clinical and industry partners, as well as patients, funders and government agencies.

Ten academic institutions have agreed to partner to fulfil the AICRI vision. Representatives from these institutions, along with patient advocates from both jurisdictions, are members of the AICRI steering committee, which was established in February 2021. They are joined by the director of the HSE’s National Cancer Control Programme and the CEO of Cancer Trials Ireland.

AICRI will focus on four key themes, covering cancer prevention,diagnostics and treatment, and survivorship-quality of life.

A wide range of cutting-edge projects relating to these thematic areas has already been garnered from the cancer research community across the island. Our role within AICRI is to work towards integrating these plans into a common research framework which will best deliver for cancer patients, while also helping to drive economic and social benefit.

Cancer patients treated in research-active hospitals, particularly those with strong academic links, have better outcomes than those who are not. Embedding of research within the national cancer control programme for Ireland and the Northern Ireland cancer strategy is critical to ensuring optimal care for our citizens. Focusing on cancer is particularly relevant in the context of Covid-19 because our work has shown the adverse impact that the pandemic can have on cancer services and cancer patients on this island unless we act rapidly and decisively.

AICRI directly addresses a critical need identified within Ireland's national cancer strategy 2017-2026, which acknowledges a current absence of an overarching framework for cancer research. It also acknowledges that it is vital to ensure that research is a strong component of cancer services. AICRI's activities are also well aligned to the draft cancer strategy for Northern Ireland 2021-2031, which has been identified as an immediate priority of the Northern Ireland Executive.

In addition to clear benefits to the healthcare system, both in the short and long term, AICRI will also greatly assist further development of a cross-border ecosystem for innovation. It will provide new discoveries and talent for the burgeoning indigenous biotechnology industry in both Ireland and Northern Ireland while also acting as a gravitational hub to retain and attract large-scale pharma and allied companies.

We greatly welcome the recent approval from the North-South Ministerial Council for the new PEACE PLUS programme for the period 2021 to 2027, which will provide critical funding to support cross-Border projects in key areas directly aligned to AICRI, such as research and development and healthcare intervention trials. Moreover, we are excited by the opportunities afforded by the new HEA North-South research programme call 2021. We are preparing a submission under this call to create an all-island interdisciplinary training programme for emerging cancer researchers in the areas of cancer prevention, diagnostics and treatment. During a keynote address in September 2017 at an International Cooperation in the Fight Against Cancer event in Dublin, then Vice-President Biden said "every day, every minute matters to patients and we must bring that sense of urgency to our cancer research and care systems."