A group of ten Year 12 students recently took part in a trip to the Institute of Cancer Research in Fulham for an interactive careers open evening.

The ICR is one of the world’s most influential cancer research organisations. They are world leaders in identifying cancer genes, discovering cancer drugs, and developing precision radiotherapy. Together with their hospital partner The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the ICR is rated in the top four centres for cancer research and treatment worldwide. The students were very fortunate to have the opportunity to tour the labs, learn practical skills related to science and meet with the researchers to talk about their careers.

Some comments from students who took part in the trip:

Firstly, I was struck by the vast range of different disciplines that made up the ICR, all working together to understand cancer better from slightly different angles. One example of this was how computer science and programming were being used to help with predicting new drug efficacy before pre-clinical trials, as well as providing 4D imaging of breast cancer organoids.

Further to this, I gained new insight into the importance of protein structure and how knowledge of this (e.g. tankyrase) directly influenced new drug development and protein modification.
Jihoon

The primary reason why I wanted to attend the visit to the ICR was to experience how the rapid advancements in technology could be applied with developments in the medical field, and the ICR perfectly illuminated why there are optimistic projections for technology in medicine. Whether it was the £800,000 electron microscope that we had a chance to use to identify bacteriophages of less than 30 nanometres, or crystallising our own proteins to examine the 3D model and use as a blueprint for designing drugs, or using a seemingly trivial game of darts with colleagues illustrating their future plans to detect and eliminate viruses, the experience served as a reminder to all of us that technology is revolutionising research and medicine to unprecedented levels of quality.
Rahul

What I enjoyed most about the trip was being able to speak to the researchers and PhD students, to gain insight into what type of research they are doing and how they got to the position they are in. It was surprising to see the range of backgrounds present in the ICR and it also helped me learn more about what I want to do in the future.
Kritin

The ICR trip was an invaluable “above and beyond” opportunity that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was particularly impressed by the lab tour, including the chance to use an electron microscope, and the explanations from the guides and instructors were very clear and easy-to-follow. The interactive activities were also engaging and informative at the same time; I learnt how certain drugs used in immunotherapy were targeted to find and suppress cancerous cells, whilst minimising damage to healthy tissue. What I found especially stimulating during the trip was the explanation of how protein crystallisation can be used to map protein structure, and how this allows drugs in development to be analysed based on whether they could fit into binding sites - and I am interested to see how this can be used to advance scientific research into treating cancer.
Rolland

On the trip, I found the interactive activities, particularly the darts activity, very engaging and it helped to further my knowledge on the topic of cancer treatments such as immunotherapy, which involves targeting only cancerous cells to prevent damage to healthy cells. However, the highlight of the trip for me was the lab tour, specifically when we were given the opportunity to operate the extremely expensive electron microscope. In addition, I was able to carry out some protein crystallisation, which I would not have done had I not gone on this trip.
Daniel

Some of the best parts from our trip was being able to talk with people who have different jobs but are all researching with a common goal. I felt that I gained a clearer understanding of the research and time required to develop drugs and other treatments to treat cancer. It was intriguing being able to see an electron microscope, as it's not equipment you could ever find in a school setting. If I got the chance to visit again I definitely would!
Atharv

I enjoyed a great deal during the ICR trip. For example, the use of interactive games to help us better understand how cancer cells can be targeted using the game ‘Guess Who’, and the darts game to show how healthy cells would be left unaffected. Furthermore, I have gained valuable insights into crystallography. It was interesting to see how an electron microscope was operated and how live image samples can be studied. It was amazing seeing the cancer researchers’ work environment, as well as all the work that they do with cutting edge technology. It was especially enlightening to see the scale at which this work was occurring, and seeing all this was truly an experience I won't forget, and it has certainly encouraged me to pursue a career in research fields.
Oluka