Today, we proudly announce the opening of the inaugural Movember Centres of Excellence. Click here to find out more about this pioneering prostate cancer research.

Today, we proudly announce the opening of two inaugural Movember Centres of Excellence in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK. The centres will be the first of their kind specialising in prostate cancer research with one centre involving Belfast and Manchester institutions, and the other focused in the London area. This will bring experts together in an unprecedented collaboration to help accelerate research outcomes; improving the lives of men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The Movember Foundation has recognised that the UK is the ideal location for this programme to commence and acknowledges the brilliance of the scientific community here. The commitment of all the Mo Bros and Mo Sistas in the UK has helped make this project possible.

A Centre of Excellence is a collective of experts within a certain field, not necessarily within the same profession or the same location, working together to accelerate learning and results through pioneering research. For example, in the case of cancer research this will mean uniting surgeons, clinicians, researchers, urologists, imaging technicians, oncologists and - at the very centre - patients, in a structured research programme. In this approach, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – it is through collaboration that greater efficiency and better thinking is achieved, leading to an improved quality of research and the faster implementation of findings in the clinic.

Each Movember Centre of Excellence has a slightly different research focus, but both share the overall aim of discovering which treatments will work best for each individual. These aren’t physical buildings; in fact, each of the two centres will be spread across different scientific institutions throughout the UK.

The Belfast-Manchester Centre of Excellence brings together prostate cancer experts from the following institutions:

·      Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester
·      Cancer Research UK Manchester
·      The University of Manchester
·      Queen’s University, Belfast

Similarly, the London Consortium combines leading prostate cancer specialists from:

·      The Institute of Cancer Research, Surrey
·      The Royal Marsden Hospital, London
·      University College London
·      Imperial College London

As well as establishing international collaborations between the brightest minds to tackle the most important questions in prostate cancer research, the Movember Centres of Excellence will provide a world-class training ground for the scientists of the future, building a legacy of top prostate cancer researchers in the UK.

Led by Prostate Cancer UK, funded by the Movember Foundation, the Movember Centres of Excellence have ultimately been made possible by your hard work and dedication to changing the face of men’s health.

For more information, visit Prostate Cancer UK’s website HERE.