Our clinical trials units

Delivering trials that make a difference

Our CTUs deliver research that impacts the care and outcomes for cancer patients in the UK and across the world. They design, coordinate and analyse clinical trials and other well-designed studies. These multidisciplinary units have a specific remit to design, conduct, report and publish clinical trials in compliance with UK regulations.

Our CTUs report to relevant agencies, such as the Health Research Authority and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

We welcome academics and clinicians with cancer trial ideas who would like to work with our CTUs. If this is of interest to you, contact a CTU or research group from the list below.

Queen Mary University of London, Cancer Research UK Cancer Prevention Trials Unit

Director: Professor Peter Sasieni

Specialist trial themes:

• screening and prevention

• diagnostic and screening devices

• multi-cancer early detection tests

• Cytosponge-TFF3 test in targeted oesophageal screening

• behavioural interventions to improve cancer prevention and screening

Explore the Cancer Prevention Trials Units

London, The Institute of Cancer Research, Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit

Director: Professor Emma Hall

Specialist trial themes:

• breast, head and neck, melanoma, ovarian, sarcoma and urological cancers

• exploratory phase 2–3

• radiotherapy

• treatment response

• underlying cancer biology

Explore the Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit

London, University College London, Cancer Research UK and UCL Cancer Trials Centre

Director: Professor Allan Hackshaw

Specialist trial themes:

• gastrointestinal, gynaecological, head and neck, brain, lung, sarcoma, bone, liver and prostate cancers

• leukaemia, myeloma and lymphoma blood cancers

• radiotherapy

• paediatric

• surgery

• advanced therapy

• screening and early detection

• genomic studies

• chemotherapy

• targeted therapies

• immunotherapies

Explore the Cancer Trials Centre

University of Birmingham, Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit

Director: Professor Amos Burke

Specialist trial themes:

• paediatric and adult phase 1–3

• first-in-human

• breast, central nervous system, colorectal, lung, haematological and urological cancers

• chemotherapy

• gene therapy

• immunotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and allogenic stem cell transplantation

• investigational medicinal products

• advanced therapy investigational medicinal products

• biomarker studies

• personalised medicine

• Complex innovative trial designs

• Bayesian methods

Explore the Birmingham CTU

University of Leeds, Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit

Director: Professor Sarah Brown

Specialist trial themes:

• phase 1–3 clinical trials

• chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and multiple myeloma blood cancers

• colorectal cancers

• radiotherapy

• surgical

• novel anti-cancer therapeutics

• immunotherapy

• personalised medicine

• biomarker-guided studies

• platform trials

Explore the Leeds CTU

Southampton Clinical Trials Unit

Director: Professor Gareth Griffiths

Specialist trial themes:

• phase 1–3 clinical trials

• pan-cancer

• immunotherapy

• early diagnosis

• biomarker-guided studies

• platform, complex and adaptive trial designs

• translational and bioinformatics

Explore the Southampton CTU

Oxford Oncology Clinical Trials Office

Director: Professor Sarah Blagden

Specialist trial themes:

• precision prevention

• early detection

• early phase I/II

Explore the Oncology Clinical Trials Office

Training and development opportunities through our CTU network

Our CTU network offers flexible funding to support the development of future chief investigators. The funding is designed for:

• clinical trainees in specialty training

• clinicians with agreed protected research time

Funding can be used for training and development activities within a CTU, helping researchers gain the skills, experience and practical knowledge needed to lead future clinical trials.

This funding has replaced our previous Clinical Trials Fellowship programme and is now managed directly by individual CTUs across the network. Please note that funding is only available for CTU-based training and development activities and cannot be used to support NHS service delivery.

Interested in applying? Contact a relevant CTU directly to discuss available opportunities and eligibility.

More about our CTUs

Our network is guided by the strategic priorities set out in our clinical research statement of intent. All CTUs share scientific and operational objectives that align with this statement, and we support them to deliver these objectives.

Read more about the network's key focus areas

Resources and support

Learn more about our work and opportunities

Clinical research funding opportunities

We support a diverse pipeline of clinical and translational research that addresses key clinical questions while deepening our understanding of cancer biology and its treatment.

Contact us

Our clinical research funding team are here if you have any questions about working with CTUs.

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