NSW Research Achievements Report 2011 - Cancer Institute NSW

4Cancer Institute NSW Research ProgramsThe Cancer Institute NSW views research as a critical factor for influencing innovation in our healthsystem and, ultimately, for improving health outcomes for the people of NSW.Over the past decade we have established an ambitious research support program, which hasincluded an investment of more than $170 million since 2004.This funding has been directed towards building research capacityand facilitating the rapid translation of findings into clinical practice.Our evaluation of this funding indicates that excellent progress hasbeen made towards achieving these objectives with key indicatorsfor workforce, research income and clinical trials participation allshowing significant increases since we started funding research in NSW.A new cancer plan for NSWAs encouraging as these results are, past growth rates that havedriven the rapid expansion of our research support program arenot sustainable and we need to put measures in place to ensure amore consolidated, targeted approach to direct research investmentinto priority areas. The development of the NSW Cancer Plan2011–15 gives us the opportunity to build on our past achievementsand align these efforts closely with the core objectives identifiedfor our new plan: to reduce incidence of cancer, increase survivalfrom cancer, and improve the quality of life for people with cancerand their carers.Creating centres where clinicians andresearchers work togetherSince our establishment, the Cancer Institute NSW has initiated arange of research and clinical service support mechanisms, which,in their own right, have had significant impact on their respectivefields. However, these programs were largely developed in isolationfrom each other and did not fully exploit the benefits of a vibranttranslational enterprise to improve cancer outcomes.One of our key objectives from the new Cancer Plan is to breakdownthe traditional boundaries that separate the roles of the researcherand clinician through the establishment of Translational CancerResearch Centres (TCRC). By providing professional developmentand training within a framework of academic clinical practice, theTCRC program aims to not only drive the generation of practiceimproving research but also ensuring rapid adoption of findingsfor improved patient outcomes. The TCRC program will be builtaround the hubs of our State’s research strengths, which have emergedas the centres of cancer research activity over the past decade.The TCRC program will help widen the impact of research investmentand align health service delivery more closely to translationalcapacity, using the latest research to personalise patient care.