Cambridge University Reporter


Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Li Ka Shing Professorship of Oncology

The GENERAL BOARD beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. Oncology is a major discipline of medicine, reflecting the importance of cancer as a major cause of mortality in the developed world. Academic work on the field of cancer, in relation to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer has developed rapidly over the course the past ten years, due to advances in both epidemiology and improved understanding of fundamental molecular and cell biology. However, cancer remains a common disease, with over 270,000 new cases diagnosed in the UK each year.

2. Within the School of Clinical Medicine, Cancer is one of a small number of major strategic themes, bringing together work across a number of Departments, including Oncology, Surgery, Paediatrics, Haematology, Public Health and Primary Care, and Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The Department of Oncology sits at the hub of this network, and combines research in the genetic epidemiology of cancer at the Strangeways Laboratory (in collaboration with the Department of Public Health and Primary Care), translational clinical research in Addenbrooke's Hospital, and cellular and molecular studies in the MRC/Hutchison Building (which it shares with the MRC Cancer Cell Unit) and, most recently, in the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute.

3. The University working in partnership with others wishes to continue to contribute to the understanding and treatment of cancer and is committed to strengthening its long-term capacity to undertake world-class research and teaching in the field of Oncology. The resources necessary to build research excellence across a range of cancer 'sites' (e.g. breast, lung, prostate) can only be found through long-term strategic partnerships. The University enjoys such relationships with a number of parties, including Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which hosts a major Regional Cancer Service, and with Cancer Research UK, which has provided significant and sustained funding for research and infrastructure, and with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and in particular its Chairman, Sir Ka-shing Li.

4. An opportunity to further develop work in this area has now arisen as the Li Ka Shing Foundation wishes to support the establishment of a new Professorship to be called the Li Ka Shing Professorship of Oncology. The Foundation has generously agreed by itself and/or through its associated overseas foundation to donate to the University the sum of £2m towards the cost of endowing the proposed Professorship. The Council of the School of Clinical Medicine have endorsed the proposal, they have agreed to underwrite the full costs of the Professorship, and they have recommended that the new Professorship be established and assigned to the Department of Oncology. The Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine have confirmed that suitable accommodation is available in the Department.

5. The General Board have agreed to propose the establishment of the Professorship on the basis that the first holder should be Professor Bruce Ponder who currently holds the Cancer Research UK Professorship of Oncology, established for a single tenure by Grace 1 of 30 November 1994 and retitled by Grace 3 of 19 March 2003. Professor Ponder welcomes the change in title. His personal research focuses on genetic predisposition to cancer and he has made significant contributions to the development of cancer research through his leadership in the University, in Addenbrooke's Hospital and in Cancer Research UK, where he has recently been appointed Director of the Cambridge Research Institute.

6. Cancer Research UK have generously agreed to continue to provide funding for Professor Ponder's work. Professor Ponder will hold the Professorship on a part-time basis, as he does his current Professorship, during his tenure of the Directorship of the CRUK Cambridge Research Institute. For subsequent appointments the General Board have agreed that election to the Professorship should be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors.

7. The General Board recommend:

I. That a Li Ka Shing Professorship of Oncology be established in the University, for Professor Bruce Anthony John Ponder in the first instance, from 1 January 2007, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Oncology.

II. That regulations for the Li Ka Shing Fund for Oncology, as set out in the Schedule to this Report, be approved.

18 October 2006 ALISON RICHARD, Vice-Chancellor RICHARD FRIEND MELVEENA MCKENDRICK
 JOHN BELL JACOB HEAD ROGER PARKER
 TOM BLUNDELL RICHARD HUNTER J. P. SISSONS
 WILLIAM BROWN D. W. B. MACDONALD I. H. WHITE
 M. J. DAUNTON  

SCHEDULE

Li Ka Shing Professor of Oncology. 2007. Oncology

1. The sums received towards the endowment of the Li Ka Shing Professorship of Oncology shall form a fund called the Li Ka Shing Fund for Oncology.

2. If and whenever the income of the Fund exceeds the amount required for the payment of the stipend, national insurance, pension contributions, and associated indirect costs of the Professor payable by the University, the excess of the income over that amount shall be applied to support the research activities of the Professor in such a manner as may be approved by the General Board on the recommendation of the Chairman of the Council of the School of Clinical Medicine.

3. Any unexpended income in a financial year shall, in any subsequent year, be expended in accordance with Regulation 2.