Clinical Trial Support

Oxford University and Hospitals Trust hosts one of the largest, most successful and respected cancer research communities in Europe, spanning a range of biological, physical and medical expertise. To ensure discoveries and advances are efficiently translated into patient benefit, the Cancer Research UK Oxford Centre supports adaptable core clinical trial infrastructure. This facility is flexible and responsive to enable scientists from a range of clinical and fundamental scientific backgrounds to translate their work into the clinic.

Funding of core capacity at the Oncology Clinical Trials Office (OCTO) and the Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit (EPCTU) provides researchers and collaborators from any discipline, department or institute across both the University and Trust access to all the regulatory, administrative, statistical, and clinical skillsets and support needed to develop and deliver national early phase trials in which their discoveries are evaluated in the clinical setting.

Since 2010, over 67 clinical studies based on Oxford science have been initiated, examples of which can be found here. All Centre researchers (join here) are eligible to apply and access this resource through presenting their project at the interactive Clinical Trial Development Group (CTDG). The CTDG is an informal forum of clinicians, statisticians, trial managers, pathologists, and lab scientists who will refine your project and develop trial proposals, signpost opportunities for collaboration and/or translational research, and identify relevant funding calls. Through this approach, the Centre is able to maintain an active pipeline of trials which realise the patient benefit of research across Oxford. We are always looking for new and impactful discoveries to develop, and we encourage all interested researchers to contact the Centre if they are interested in utilising this infrastructure. You don’t have to have a full trial proposal ready or be an experienced clinical investigator to bring an idea to CTDG. As a guide we suggest contacting Sarah Pearson (OCTO Trial Management Director) or Fiona Cooper (OCTO Administrator) to have a preliminary conversation.