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October 2001: Sir Paul Nurse wins Nobel Prize for Medicine.

The 100th Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Sir Paul Nurse, DG of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, for his ground-breaking work in the field. Strangely, newspaper reports of the award failed to mention his superb talk at the third Cafe Scientifique...

9th January 2001: "What is Cancer?"

Paul Nurse is one of Britain's most distinguished scientists today. His groundbreaking research has laid the foundation for a fundamental understanding of cancer. Since 1996, Sir Paul has also been director-general of the largest cancer research organization in the U.K., the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF).

"Cancer wreaks havoc in almost every part of the human body*" and has touched almost every family in Britain. Why then, despite so much time, effort and money, has it proved such a seemingly intractable problem? The understanding of cancer has been developed enormously over the last few decades and researchers have moved from "substantial ignorance to deep insight*" such that we are now in position to begin to answer the question "What is cancer?"

  • Imperial Cancer Research Fund
  • Honorary member of the Biochemistry Department, Oxford
  • Text of a recent press release, responding to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair's comments at the Labour Party Conference, September 2000.
  • General information on cancer is available at the ICRF website
  • This also has links to other cancer research institutions and charities.

    Come along and join us at 7pm in Blackwells Main Bookshop, Broad Street, Oxford.
    No ticket, no booking, no scientific background required.


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