National Pandemic Prize

DEVON’S CANCER TEAM ARE AWARDED NATIONAL PANDEMIC PRIZE FOR BEBRUARY 2023

Devon’s COV-SPOT team, consisting of Rosie Mew and Caroline Harnett have been awarded a National award by the UK COVID Cancer Programme. It was awarded for their efforts in driving forward understanding of how to safely re-start anti-cancer treatments in cancer patients who have had a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The Devon team have consistently delivered the highest number of study records for the COV-SPOT study, and they have successfully showcased the research and audit capabilities in the region.

Dr James Platt, research excellence award co-lead said “As a new UKCCP initiative, COV-SPOT has relied on the hard work and enthusiasm of collaborators across the country. Rosie and Caroline have delivered these in abundance and have ensured that patients with cancer in the southwest are well represented in this study. Rosie and Caroline’s contributions are one of the key factors helping COV-SPOT to become another successful project.”  

Dr Justin Liu, research excellence award co-lead noted “Rosie and Caroline have shown great initiative in their approach to COV-SPOT on a local level. Not only have they led from the front in terms of local data collection, they have also provided a helping hand for setting up other sites and refining the data collection process. We are delighted to recognise their contributions to COV-SPOT (and the wider UKCCP programme) through this hugely deserving award.“.

Dr Lennard YW Lee, co-lead of the UK COVID Cancer Programme said “Rosie and Caroline are tremendous individuals. They both showed high levels of ingenuity and we are all very lucky that they have led from the front in order to understand how to deliver the safe cancer care during the pandemic”

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Background information  

• The UK COVID Cancer Programme awards nationally competitive prizes to individuals, research consortium or clinical teams going above and beyond for the pandemic response for cancer patients  

• The UK COVID Cancer Programme was established in March 2020 and consists of 89 cancer centres to safeguard, evaluate and protect cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic