A research lab is being set up at Clatterbridge’s Aintree site so more patients can potentially take part in ground-breaking cancer research.
The lab will enable patients who attend CCC-Aintree to take part in clinical trials instead of having to travel to Liverpool or Wirral.
A team, led by Lead Haematology Research Nurse Jane Tinsley and Advanced Research Nurse Irwin Balquin, has put in place the equipment, technology and governance needed to establish the lab, and it is due to open at the end of September.
It is hoped that similar research labs can be set up at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s other peripheral sites to help with growing numbers of research participants there, giving patients in those areas easier access to research studies which once were only offered at Liverpool or Wirral.
There are plans to secure additional grants to expand lab space at these sites and buy more equipment – with training put in place for staff. The plans also include opening more clinical trials at Wirral and expanding trials already open at Liverpool into the Wirral site.
Jane said: “We are really pleased to be able to commission additional research at Aintree now that the laboratory has been established. It will give Aintree patients access to clinical trials which previously they would have had to travel to Liverpool to take part in.
“We will be working on plans to increase the number of research opportunities we can offer at other hubs sites too.”
Emma Whitby, Head of Research Delivery, who has also worked on the project with Head of Research Governance Dr Maria Maguire and Michelle Moffit, ECMC Lead Research Nurse, said: “We are growing the numbers of our patients taking part in research and clinical trials and our ambition for our hub sites reflects this.
“The new Aintree lab will improve the experience of patients there who take part in research, and I’d like to thank Jane and Irwin for all their hard work on this.”
