European award for University of Leeds cancer researchers

Researchers at the University of Leeds and Queen’s University Belfast have been handed the European Health Award for their work.

They worked on a project which involved drawing up a “bill of rights” for patients which encourages cross-border working and the sharing of new research.

Leeds and Belfast researchers carried out their work as part of the European Cancer Concord (ECC), which was launched in 2013 and includes a group of cancer patients.

Peter Selby, Professor of Cancer Medicine at Leeds and ECC President, said: “This is a superb example of how cooperative European activities that involve sharing best practice between countries can result in top class prize-winning initiatives.”

The award was presented at the opening ceremony of a health policy conference in Austria.

Prof Alan Langlands, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, and Prof Ian Greer, President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast, welcomed the award in a joint statement. They said: “We are immensely proud that an initiative which was developed and conducted by Queen’s University and the University of Leeds has been recognised across Europe as a quality exemplar of best practice.”

Speaking at the ceremony, Prof Lawler added: “Cooperation is the key to this initiative. We need to compete, not against each other, but against our common enemy - Cancer.”