OnMedica – News – UK's first Convergence Science Center launches

The "science of convergence" integrates the knowledge, methods and expertise of different disciplines to accelerate scientific discoveries and innovation and to create new treatments and technologies for cancer

The UK's first "science convergence" center was launched under the auspices of Cancer Research UK, which brings together scientists from two of the UK's leading academic research institutes under the guidance of cancer specialists reputed, Professor Paul Workman of the Cancer Institute, London and Professor Ara Darzi of Imperial College London.

The new 13 million-pound science convergence center integrates the knowledge, methods and know-how of different scientific disciplines – from physics to data science, engineering and science Biological Medicine, to accelerate scientific discoveries and innovation for people with cancer and new treatments and technologies.

One of these projects is to reinvent ultrasound technology to develop a treatment that can liquefy cancer cells in the body without resorting to invasive surgery.

A team of biologists, physicists, engineers and clinicians is studying the possibility of adapting a therapeutic version of ultrasound, called histotripsy, to destroy pancreatic tumors located deep within the body.

The team will use highly targeted high-frequency sound waves to target and separate cancer cells using microbubbles.

The sound waves cause rapid expansion and contraction of the microbubbles, exerting pressure on the cancer cell and dividing it into harmless fragments to be reabsorbed into the body and expelled naturally.

In another project, researchers are refining a technique originally developed to explore autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, to examine the activation of immune cells in an immune system. tumor in real time and better understand why immunotherapies work for some patients. for the others.

"While we are making great strides in treating some cancers, survival remains stubbornly low for others, such as pancreatic cancer. For our patients to make real progress, we need to take a bolder and more creative approach to research, "said Michelle Mitchell, Executive Director of Cancer Research UK.

"By opening new avenues of collaboration, we can bring new ideas outside the traditional space of cancer research. This convergence will allow us to meet the challenges of research from completely different angles, so that we can overcome the obstacles that have prevented therapeutic advances in the past and secure a future for more people with cancer. "

Professor Paul Workman, general manager of the London Cancer Institute and director of the Convergence Science Center, said: "It's fantastic to think that microbubbles could be used to destroy cancer cells, and that It is only one example of the exciting innovation expected in the new Convergence Science Center.

Professor Lord Ara Darzi, director of the cancer research center at Imperial College London, said: "With this new center and the training opportunities it offers, we will be teaching the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration to tomorrow. Data science, physics, and engineering are already transforming the way we treat cancer; The integration of expertise and knowledge of these disciplines is essential to sustain our important work.

"By creating a new generation of convergent scientists, we are opening the door to new tools, devices and algorithms that we could never have imagined before. The combined strength of our two major global institutions will set the standard for the future of Convergence Science to transform cancer research in the UK and around the world. "