Professor William Gallagher:

I am grateful for the opportunity to meet today to discuss cross-Border healthcare, with a particular focus in our case on cancer research and its critical links to improved patient care. We represent the All-Island Cancer Research Institute, AICRI. For the past five years, AICRI has been focused on creating an overarching framework for cancer research on the island of Ireland, covering issues from scientific discovery to the clinic. A critical feature of AICRI is facilitation of cross-Border research in key priority areas for healthcare, such as precision cancer medicine and data analytics.

AICRI has successfully brought together 11 academic institutions across Ireland and Northern Ireland as well as key stakeholders from the healthcare and charity sectors, industry leaders and patient advocates.

The origins of AICRI stem from the Good Friday Agreement. In 1999 - a year after the Good Friday Agreement - a memorandum of understanding, MOU, was signed between the Departments of health in Ireland and Northern Ireland and the US National Cancer Institute. This MOU established the all-Ireland cancer consortium, which has had a major impact on the cancer research and care ecosystem on our shared island. Since 1999, this tripartite programme has created a cancer trials ecosystem that has allowed more than 30,000 patients across the island of Ireland to get early access to innovative medicines and other interventions. This has saved not only many lives, but also contributed to our respective economies through healthcare savings and industrial development.

Since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the number of people diagnosed with cancer per year has more than doubled. By 2045, it is projected that this number will double again, primarily due to the ageing population. This will mean that, every seven minutes, someone on our island will be diagnosed with cancer. Cancer research is a critical foundation to address this pending challenge. We know that patients treated in research-active hospitals have better outcomes. Due to the major diagnostic and therapeutic advances that taken place on our island and worldwide, people are living longer after their cancer diagnoses. Across the entire island of Ireland, we have close to 300,000 people who are either living with or beyond cancer. This is similar to three times the combined capacity of both Croke Park and Windsor Park.

While the tripartite consortium was renewed in 2021, a need was still identified to bring all-island collaboration in cancer research and its integration with care to the next level. Accordingly, AICRI was formed as a virtual institute via a bottom-up strategy involving key stakeholders from academic and healthcare institutions, along with patient advocates, the cancer charity sector, industry, cancer trial organisations and cancer control units. AICRI presented our early vision to this committee in November 2021 and provided an update on our progress in February 2023. Great encouragement and support for our activities was given on both occasions, which has greatly benefited our cause. Since that time, we have secured substantial funding under the North-South research programme to train the next generation of cancer researchers, as well as to advance cutting-edge translational programmes in diagnostics and digital health. The North-South research programme is administered by the Higher Education Authority of Ireland on behalf of the shared island unit. While the North-South research programme has provided a key foundation stone for AICRI, we are still in the early phases of our journey and there is a need for additional mechanisms to foster cross-Border collaboration in research to benefit patients.

I have asked three of my colleagues to come here today, who can provide key examples in the areas of survivorship and quality of life, childhood cancer, and clinical trials and radiotherapy where cross-Border collaboration has and can play a critical role. I am delighted that Ms Siobhan Gaynor, a tireless patient advocate and patient researcher, could make it today. Together with Cancer Trials Ireland colleagues, she spearheaded a ground-breaking all-island study to better understand the needs of individuals with metastatic breast cancer, who are often forgotten to the system. This work, which is patient-led, has been presented at major international cancer conferences and is paving the way for improved clinical pathways for those living with advanced disease.

Professor Owen Smith from Trinity College Dublin and Children’s Health Ireland is a leading clinician in the area of childhood cancer. Indeed, our colleagues in the childhood cancer space have led the way in showing the importance of inter-institutional collaboration for the benefit of the younger generation affected by cancer. Professor Smith is leading out on a major new all-island study, called MAGIC-I, that aims to embed genomic sequencing into the care pathway for every child and adolescent diagnosed with cancer.

Professor Gerry Hanna from Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute is a leading radiation oncologist who has experience of working in both jurisdictions. He is also currently the vice-clinical lead of Cancer Trials Ireland, which last week launched a timely report, entitled "The Value of Cancer Trials". This report again highlighted key benefits to the healthcare system of cancer clinical trials, including at an economic level.

I again thank members for their support in our journey as we endeavour towards a fully integrated approach to tackle the challenges that cancer poses. Their support has been invaluable to date and we would greatly appreciate their advice and input as we aim to progress even further. One in two people on the island of Ireland will develop cancer during their lifetime. It affects all families and communities. We can make a difference by working together.