Liverpool-led blood cancer research project secures massive £475k funding boost

A Liverpool-based research team at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has secured more than £475,000 from Blood Cancer UK to expand UNCOVER, a pioneering initiative.

The project stands as one of the largest blood cancer data research programmes on the planet, with this financial boost securing its future for another three years.

This project allows experts to investigate how patients across England are diagnosed, how they are treated, and why their medical outcomes vary. The package includes an initial £205,194 in confirmed funding, with an additional £270,006 allocated subject to yearly milestone reviews.

While the milestone UNCOVER study is officially sponsored by The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, the complex data analysis is driven by specialist health data scientists at the University of Liverpool. The project pieces together a comprehensive, real-world map of national patient care by tracking anonymised NHS data from every single person diagnosed with blood cancer in England since 2014.

Thanks to its latest update, the database now holds records for over 300,000 patients alongside a massive control group, giving the archive unprecedented global scale and clinical depth.

Unlike many large research programmes, UNCOVER is shaped jointly by clinicians, patients and early career researchers from across the UK. Research questions are scoped and prioritised through a national advisory group, ensuring the findings address issues that matter most to people affected by blood cancer.

Over the past three years, UNCOVER has already generated significant impact, with findings presented at major international scientific conferences and multiple peer-reviewed manuscripts now in preparation or submission. The programme has also helped attract additional research funding, including support to investigate health inequalities in blood cancer.

The new funding will allow the team to further expand the database, deliver a larger pipeline of high-priority research questions, strengthen education and training opportunities, and build international collaborations. There is also a strong focus on ensuring the research leads to real-world impact for patients, including supporting evidence needed to inform NHS decision-making.

Prof Andy Pettitt, Consultant Haemato-Oncologist at Clatterbridge and Ronald Finn Professor of Experimental Medicine at the University of Liverpool, a Chief Investigator in the UNCOVER team, said: 

“This funding is a huge vote of confidence in UNCOVER and in the power of using real-world NHS data to improve outcomes for people with blood cancer.

“By bringing together clinicians, researchers and patients, we can ask better questions, generate more meaningful evidence and ensure that research leads to real change in care.”

Find out more about UNCOVER here.

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