Latest news from BNOS and across the neuro-oncology network

Location: Birmingham
Salary: £34,980 to £44,263 Full time starting salary is normally in the range £34,980 to £44,263 with potential progression once in post to £46,974
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Two year fixed-term
Closes: 9th July 2024

Background

The Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission is pleased to announce that the application round for the Tessa Jowell Fellowship programme is now open!

The Tessa Jowell Fellowship Programme is a training programme for medical specialties involved in the delivery of treatment, care and research for patients with brain tumours. It aims to create new attractive and rewarding career opportunities for aspiring scientists and clinicians in a challenging disease area, on the cusp of exciting and promising breakthroughs. The Fellowships are the perfect launchpad for emerging talent to build a clinical career dedicated to helping patients with complex needs while also leading on cutting-edge research and innovation. The 12-month Fellowships are fully funded and aimed at exceptional applicants near to gaining their certificate of completion of training, who wish to further specialise in brain tumour treatment and research.

This year there are three fellowships available for neuro-oncology and neurology trainees near completion of training:   

• Tessa Jowell Neuro-oncology Fellowship, co-funded by the Chief Scientist Office and Edinburgh/Glasgow (supervised by Prof Anthony Chalmers and Dr Faye Robertson) – Click here to apply (closes July 1 2024)
• Tessa Jowell Neurology Fellowship, co-funded by NIHR and King’s Health Partners (supervised by Dr Gerald Finnerty) – Opening soon – Click here for more information (closes June 30 2024)
• Tessa Jowell Drug Development Fellowship, co-funded by the NIHR and the Institute of Cancer Research/Royal Marsden (supervised by Dr Juanita Lopez ) – Opening soon – Click here for more information  (closes July 5 2024)

If you would like more information on the Fellowships, please contact camille.goetz@tessajowellbcm.org

The Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission are pleased to announce that pre-applications for the next Brain Tumour Research Novel Therapeutics Accelerator (BTR-NTA) review cycle are now open!

The BTR-NTA is an international accelerator programme providing independent expert guidance to de-risk therapeutic development through systematic evaluation. The BTR-NTA welcomes applications from academic and industry researchers developing any type of therapeutic (including delivery platforms and devices) for patients with a brain tumour. As part of the BTR-NTA review, you could receive up to 240 hours of expert input from an international, multidisciplinary committee. Thanks to funding from Brain Tumour Research, the BTR-NTA programme is free for academic applicants and available at a nominal cost for industry applicants.

• To read more about the BTR-NTA programme and download the pre-application form, please visit the BTR-NTA website: https://www.tessajowellbraincancermission.org/strategic-programmes/btr-nta/
• To discuss how your therapy for brain tumours could benefit from a BTR-NTA review, please email Dr Charlotte Aitken to set up a brief call: charlotte.aitken@tessajowellbcm.org

Pre-applications will close on Friday 26^th July 2024.

BNOS was sad to hear news of the recent death of our Founding President and Lifetime member Professor David Thomas.

We honour David for his work for the Society and in his role as Professor of Neurological Surgery at Queen Square, where he was a hugely influential figure and valued colleague.

BNOS would like to express our condolences to David’s family, friends and ex-colleagues at this sad time.

We are excited to share news of our brand new Global Neuro-Oncology Bursary award scheme for health care professionals working in low income countries.

Four bursaries worth up to £1500 each are available to attend the BNOS Annual Scientific Meeting which is being held in Cambridge from 17-19 July 2024. The funding can also provide an opportunity to link in with clinical teams in the UK for discussion / collaboration / education / observership.

BNOS provides the foremost annual multidisciplinary neuro-oncology scientific meeting in the UK. Attendance currently consists of mainly UK practitioners and invited international presenters. The care and treatment of brain tumour patients is a challenge, not only in the UK, but also in the rest of the world. There is an increasing realisation that there is much that can be done to support improvements in the global delivery of care, and that collaboration can benefit all partners.

Key information:
• The bursary is designed for health care professionals working in low income countries
• The bursary can be used towards the costs of travel to the UK to attend the 2024 BNOS conference, conference registration fees and accommodation
• Letters of support can be provided for visa purposes
• Depending on specialty and need, a link with a UK department can be initialised to allow a visit before or after the conference
• A short presentation slot at the BNOS conference on the challenges and possible solutions for the applicant may be available
• All successful applicants would be expected to complete a report after the conference on the impact of their bursary to their practice

How to apply:
Please complete a one page summary including:
• Your own details (specialty, country of work, population and region served)
• The reasons for requesting attendance
• What difference this could make from a clinical and / or research perspective for you and your practice, region, or country.

Send your application to laura@bnos.org.uk by midnight on Sunday 21st April. This is a competitive process and applications will be reviewed and scored against a set criteria. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their applications by week ending 5th May.

We are inviting expressions of interest to join the BNOS Council Executive Committee in the role of Honorary Secretary as well as an opportunity to become a Co-Chair of the Student-Trainee Subcommittee. 

This is an exciting time to join BNOS as we have recently become a registered charity and have ambitious plans for development – growing our membership, engaging a wider audience and delivering new events in addition to our annual conference. 

Honorary Secretary role:
The role is for an initial three-term year, with the possibility of re-election for a further three-years. As a Council member you will be expected to attend Council meetings which are held three times a year (a mixture of in person and virtual) as well as the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which is held during the BNOS Annual Conference. The post will commence in June 2024.

Co-Chair Student-Trainee Subcommittee:
The role is for an initial two-year term, with the possibility of re-election for a further two-years. We welcome expressions of interest from PhD students, early-career researchers and junior clinicians interested in neuro-oncology to join a multidisciplinary group of talented individuals. As Co-Chair, you will have oversight of the subcommittee’s operations and strategy, under the guidance of and with support from the Academic Subcommittee. The post will commence as soon as possible.  

How to apply:
Expressions of interest up to a maximum of 1 page of A4 outlining your interest and suitability for the role should be sent to administrator@bnos.org.uk

• The closing date for the Honorary Secretary role is 10am Monday 19th February 
• The closing date for the Co-Chair role is 10am Monday 5th February

If you would like to speak to either to current Honorary Secretary or Co-Chair about the role, please contact us and we will put you in touch. 

Elections for the posts will take place via a confidential online voting system, open to BNOS members only, details of which will be announced in due course.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Some of you will know that Chimerix, a US based company is currently running clinical studies for patients with histone mutated glioma (H3K27M mutations) using their agents ONC201 and ONC206. The Phase 3 ACTION study is recruiting in the UK for newly diagnosed patients and is open in 10 sites across the UK see https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05580562.

We are very keen to include as many UK patients as possible in this study so we get an early answer about the effectiveness of this agent. Please contact your nearest recruiting centre to discuss study entry.

Many of you may also know that some patients with histone mutated tumours have been accessing a version of ONC201/ONC206 via a private German clinic. This unregulated supply has now been stopped. Chimerix are taking steps to ensure that patients who have been taking these agents can continue to access them through an expanded access programme. This is already available in the US and should be available in the UK in January 2024. This will be available through the NHS free of charge and oncology clinicians will be able to refer for access. Patients who think they may be eligible for access should enquire via their oncologist who should contact Chimerix.

Investigating alternative modes of radiotherapy and the combination with DNA repair inhibitors in enhancing the treatment of glioblastoma

Background
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common brain cancer in adults, but where survival rates (<12 months) remain extremely poor largely due to the inherent resistance of the tumour to therapies, including conventional (X-ray) radiotherapy. However, the emergence of precision targeted proton beam therapy (PBT) and boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) offer alternative modes of radiotherapy that can significantly reduce the side effects observed with conventional radiotherapy, whilst also being more effective in tumour cell killing. Despite this, there are still biological and clinical uncertainties with PBT and BNCT, requiring further research to be conducted in appropriate preclinical GBM models. Furthermore, the identification of specific drugs (such as those targeting the DNA damage response) that can be utilised to enhance the biological effect of PBT and BNCT, is currently unclear. This research is essential in deriving the optimal radiotherapy strategy that can be used in the clinic for the benefit of GBM patients.

 Objectives
This exciting DTP studentship will develop novel radiation biology research investigating the impact of PBT and BNCT, versus X-rays, in overcoming the radioresistance of GBM. We will also explore the effect of targeted DNA repair inhibitors (collaboration with AstraZeneca) in the radiosensitisation of GBM models in response to the different radiotherapy types. This will be delivered through the unique radiotherapy facilities (MC-40 cyclotron and high flux accelerator-driven neutron facility) available in Birmingham, in combination with GBM cell lines, 3D spheroids/patient-derived organoids and a chick embryo tumour model. 

Apply by midday (GMT) Friday 12 January 2024

Visit the FindAPhD website for full details

Earlier this year BNOS council formed a multi-disciplinary working group to provide a position statement for tissue sampling of brain tumours within the UK.

As a result of this, a document entitled ‘BNOS Guideline for tissue sampling of brain tumours: Addressing insufficient material submitted for diagnosis, genetics and emerging novel therapies’ has been approved and can be viewed and downloaded here.

In addition, there is a lay version of this document for patients, their caregivers and members of the public. This document was co-authored by some members of the working group so that the two align. This version also went through the rigorous PIF Tick evaluation. It can be accessed online here

The guideline document has been sent to the leads of all UK neuro centres and we are delighted that the following UK brain tumour charities are supporting and signposting these documents: Brain Tumour Research, brainstrust, Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission and The Brain Tumour Charity.

On the 12th June 2023, after months of hard work by current and former BNOS Executives, we officially became a registered charity in England and Wales, No. 1203502

Professor Susan Short, BNOS President and Trustee said:

“We are delighted that BNOS is now an official charity. This will enhance our governance structures and support a growing membership and broadening remit as we look forward to an exciting time for multi-disciplinary neuro oncology in the UK.”

Paul Grundy, former BNOS President (until July 2023) and Trustee also commented:

“After two years of work it’s amazing news to hear that BNOS has now become a fully registered charity. The ongoing professionalisation of BNOS will support further growth of our society for the ultimate benefit of patients with brain tumours in the UK.”

We are all excited about the future for BNOS and have ambitious plans for development which we look forward to sharing with you. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our members for your support in making BNOS the Society that it is, we wouldn’t have been able to reach this point without you.