Beautiful Minds – Tim Hunt

Tim Hunt

Sir Tim Hunt

We’re rightly proud of Sir Tim Hunt – one of our Nobel Prize-winning scientists. There are just a few days left to see this BBC documentary about him and his work.

Here’s the blurb:

“The final part of this series looking at three brilliant contemporary scientists features Sir Tim Hunt, awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the mechanism of how cells divide – a discovery fundamental to the life and growth of every single creature on the planet, as well as a vital clue into the mystery of cancer.

Hunt recalls moments in his life that provided inspiration for his career as a scientist, from his father’s intent scholarship which shaped his early methods to his mother’s battle with cancer and the influence of this on his current position at Cancer Research UK.

In his own words, Hunt recounts the events that informed his discovery, from chance encounters to life-changing conversations and reveals his own opinions on the thought processes, both logical and emotional, that led to his extraordinary discovery.”

[This programme is no longer available on iPlayer, although there is a short clip on the BBC's website].

Elsewhere on the web – August 2009

Whats out there on the web?

What's out there on the web?

It’s time for a round-up of cancer stories that have appeared on the web recently.

From the US
Given all the coverage in the media lately about US versus UK healthcare, we start in the States. The New York Times has an interesting piece on the “War on Cancer” by Nobel laureate James Watson, entitled “To fight cancer, know the enemy”, with a responding commentary in The UK Times by Mark Henderson.

Meanwhile, over at Respectful Insolence, Orac discusses the problem of recruiting patients onto clinical trials for cancer treatment in the US – a subject we’ll be returning to next month. Over there, only around 3 per cent of adult cancer patients are involved in trials, whereas here in the UK the figure is around 12 per cent.

On the American Cancer Society’s blog, Dr Len discusses the importance of cancer prevention,   and navigates the thorny issues of health insurance and euthanasia.
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Elsewhere on the web – June/July 2009

Whats out there on the web?

What's out there on the web?

It’s time for a round-up of interesting stories we’ve seen on the web over the past couple of months.

From number crunching to personal stories
We start with a thorough and hard-hitting behind-the-scenes look at NICE, the drug approval process, and the cost of cancer drugs to the NHS, by Adam Wishart. It’s an excellent read, but certainly raises a lot of tough questions.

Throughout the piece, Wishart weaves in the tale of Julia, a myeloma patient, and her quest for the drug lenalidomide.  Personal stories of cancer are incredibly moving, as you can see from our new TV ad, and they help to remind us why our work is so important.

Earlier this month, Channel 4 broadcast an emotional documentary featuring the stories of three teenagers undergoing treatment for cancer. You can watch it again through 4OD.

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Elsewhere on the web – May 2009

It’s time to trawl the web for the latest cancer-related stories.

Hello sunshine
This week the UK is sizzling (or perhaps just sweating) in the sun as summer finally arrives. Our SunSmart team have put together a neat animation about the dangers of sunburn – featuring a voiceover by your own correspondent, Dr Kat.

There’s been a lot in the news recently about sunshine, vitamin D and cancer, such as this post on the NHS Choices blog exploring whether sunshine really is the ‘key to long life’.  So it’s a timely moment to bump a couple of Ed’s great posts about sun exposure and vitamin D – ‘Does vitamin D protect against cancer?’ and ‘Do we need more sunlight to make enough vitamin D?’

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Elsewhere on the web – March 2009

Whats out there on the web?

What's out there on the web?

The BBC’s Newsnight programme ran a special investigation into cancer on Monday 6th April. Here’s a short segment entitled “Cancer: Does science have the answer?” featuring Cancer Research UK-funded scientists Paul Pharoah and Paul Workman, along with our Chief Clinician Peter Johnson.

The Newsnight team have also put together a report assessing cancer care in the UK compared  to France.   Although there are delays in the UK system, things are improving. There’s a longer article covering the story on the BBC website.

The programme also carried out a poll of more than a thousand UK adults, finding that although 6 out of ten people thought that the government had provided clear information about how to reduce the risk of cancer, only 3 out of ten people had acted on it.

As Sara Hiom, our director of Health Information says, “Our lifestyles can have a serious impact on our risk of many cancers, so we’d hope to see more people willing to make appropriate lifestyle changes.” When it comes to beating cancer, prevention has to go hand in hand with new treatments and early detection.

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We’ve won an award

We won an award

We won an award

We’re pretty chuffed here in the blog team. Last night this blog won the Association of Medical Research Charities annual science communication award, for best online research information.

The judges praised our “chatty style” and particularly liked our ‘myth-busting’ posts.

The whole competition was pretty stiff, and special mention is due to Breakthrough Breast Cancer, whose Breast Cancer: The Risk Factors leaflet deservedly won the overall award.

The other winners were:

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Elsewhere on the web – February 2009

Whats out there on the web?

What's out there on the web?

There’s been a lot in the news this month about cancer risks – although most people seem to ignore them, as Henry covered in a recent post.

Over on the NHS Choices blog, they’ve discussed whether bacon, fertility drugs, cannabis and even Facebook can cause cancer, as well as explaining how aspirin, tea and exercise could cut the risk.

The “Facebook causes cancer” story (the first scare story for the web 2.0 generation?) has also been covered by Mindhacks and the ever-insightful Ben Goldacre.
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