Congratulations to Dr Yemi Akala, an Early Phase Clinical Trials Fellow from Leicester’s Hospitals, who has been awarded a Cancer Research UK Clinical Trial Fellowship in collaboration with the ICR CTSU that aims to widen participation in cancer research.
The prestigious award will take place both at the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) in Sutton and Leicester and will focus on the decentralisation of cancer clinical trials.
Dr Yemi Akala, who will carry out the research as part of the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre’s Cancer theme, said: “I am delighted to have been awarded a Clinical Trial Fellowship by Cancer Research UK.
“My interest in research stems from a desire to contribute to addressing certain research gaps, specifically within triple negative breast and other rare cancers. I am also passionate about ensuring equity of access to clinical trials regardless of geographic, cultural or socio-economic barriers.
“The Decentralisation of Cancer Clinical Trials study comes from an understanding that taking part in research can be difficult and burdensome for cancer patients at a very difficult time in their lives. It may sometimes involve travel to a hospital that specialise in research into their form of cancer, and having the support of friends and family to do so. Decentralisation could potentially enable specific aspects of a trial to be delivered closer to home, which may have direct benefit for patients.
“The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a shift in the way clinical trials were traditionally delivered, incorporating innovative technology and digital tools such as, e-consent, telemedicine, remote data collection using wearable devices etc. However, cancer trials are yet to fully integrate these novel approaches.
“Working under the supervision of the team at the ICR (Professor Judith Bliss, Dr Fay Cafferty & Dr Claire Snowdon) and here in Leicester (Associate Professor, Dr Harriet Walter), we will engage with patients and the public, trials teams, clinicians and regulatory authorities to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of decentralised cancer trials.”