Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Encyclopedia
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd (LICR) is a global non-profit medical research
institute
that undertakes laboratory and clinical research into cancer
, conducting and sponsoring its own early-phase clinical trials to investigate its discoveries.
There is currently one LICR Center, which has a primary focus on clinical and translational sciences and is located within a hospital.
(recently became an own branch, see editing)
Leading laboratory and clinical researchers at many other Cancer Institutes and Universities around the world participate as 'LICR Affiliates. Affiliates are recruited specifically to complement and extend the expertise and technologies available within LICR, and are currently to be found in Brazil, China, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, UK and USA.
Former branches are:
In 'Cancer Initiatives,' LICR investigators are working together to study melanoma, and brain, breast and colorectal cancers.
In 'Programs,' LICR investigators focus on disease processes or new therapeutic modalities. Current Programs are Antibody Targeting, Cancer Vaccines, and Clinical Genomics.
companies will not undertake the large investment required to develop and market commercial cancer therapies without the expectation of a future financial return. Thus LICR ensures the possibility of developing its discoveries by actively protecting the intellectual property
of its research discoveries. LICR has formal licensing arrangements (non-exclusive wherever possible) involving its intellectual property
with pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies in Australia
, Europe
, Japan
, and USA.
The Institute has also formed six spin-off companies. Its first, PIramed Ltd, was launched in 2003 and was acquired by Roche in 2008. Another, Recepta (launched in 2007), was Brazil's first oncology biotechnology company.
Mr. Daniel K. Ludwig
, who bequeathed his entire international holdings - a substantial proportion of his estate - for the endowment of the Institute. Mr. Ludwig's domestic (US) holdings were used to create the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, which was established to fund cancer research at six leading academic institutions in the USA: Pritzker School of Medicine
(Chicago, IL), Harvard Medical School
(Boston, MA), Johns Hopkins University
(Baltimore, MD), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(Cambridge, MA), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
(New York, NY), and Stanford University Medical Center
(Stanford, CA).
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
institute
Institute
An institute is a permanent organizational body created for a certain purpose. Often it is a research organization created to do research on specific topics...
that undertakes laboratory and clinical research into cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, conducting and sponsoring its own early-phase clinical trials to investigate its discoveries.
Global Footprint
LICR is the largest international, non-profit institute dedicated to understanding and controlling cancer, with ~900 staff in seven countries across Australasia, Europe, and North and South America. There are currently nine LICR research Branches, which have a primary focus on basic laboratory and translational (in vivo and preclinical analyses of laboratory discoveries) sciences and are typically located within a university or research institute:- BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
Branch of Human Cancer Cell Genetics (Director: Thierry Boon, PhD) - LausanneLausanneLausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
Branch of Immunology (Ludwig Center for Cancer Research of the University of LausanneUniversity of LausanneThe University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...
; Director: H. Robson MacDonald, PhD) - MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
Branch of Tumour Biology (Director: Antony W. Burgess, PhD) - Melbourne-Austin Branch 2nd Branch in Melbourne (Director: Andrew M. Scott, MD, Prof.)
- New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Branch of Human Cancer Immunology (Director: Lloyd J. Old, MD) - OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
Branch of Cancer Metastasis (Director: Xin Lu, PhD) - San Diego Branch of Cancer Genetics (Director: Webster K. Cavenee, PhD)
- São PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
Branch of Cancer Biology and Epidemiology (Director: Luisa L. Villa, PhD) - StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
Branch of Molecular and Cell Biology (Director: Thomas Perlmann, PhD) - UppsalaUppsala- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
Branch of Growth Regulation (Director: Carl-Henrik Heldin, PhD)
There is currently one LICR Center, which has a primary focus on clinical and translational sciences and is located within a hospital.
(recently became an own branch, see editing)
- MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
Centre for Clinical Sciences (Director: Andrew M. Scott, MD)
Leading laboratory and clinical researchers at many other Cancer Institutes and Universities around the world participate as 'LICR Affiliates. Affiliates are recruited specifically to complement and extend the expertise and technologies available within LICR, and are currently to be found in Brazil, China, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, UK and USA.
Former branches are:
- Bern (Switzerland): November 1979 - November 1988 (Directors: Jan Stjernsward 1979-80; Carl G. Baker 1980-82; Aron Goldhirsch 1982-83; Bernd Groner 1983-88)
- Cambridge (UK): February 1981 - May 1988 (Director: Karol Sikora)
- London St Mary's (UK): December 1985 - July 2005 (Director: Paul J. Farrell)
- London University College (UK): December 1985 - September 2008 (Director: Michael D. Waterfield, F.R.S.)
- Montreal (Canada): September 1985 - August 1991 transferred to San Diego (Director: Webster K. Cavenee)
- Sutton (UK): April 1975 - June 1985 (Director: A. Munro Neville)
- Sydney (Australia): June 1976 - June 1988 (Director: Alan Coates)
- Toronto (Canada): February 1981 - March 1989 (Director: Robert Bruce)
Laboratory Research
The majority of LICR's laboratory research involves investigator-initiated projects in the Branches. Areas of laboratory research include:- Cancer Genome: Regulation of Gene Expression
- Genome Integrity: DNA Damage Detection, Response and Repair, and Cell Division
- Signal Transduction: Angiogeneic Growth FActors
- TGFbeta in Cancer
- PI3K Regulation
- Interleukins in Cancer
- Colony Stimulating Factors
- Cancer Antigen Characterization
- Cancer Immunology
Clinical Research
LICR sponsors and conducts its own early-phase clinical trials in potential antibody-based and cancer vaccine therapies. The early-phase clinical trials primarily test safety, but samples are also analyzed for 'research' endpoints, such as a vaccine's ability to induce an anti-tumor immunological response in a patient. The knowledge gained is used to iteratively improve both the therapeutic approach and further laboratory research. The Institute has its own clinical trials management infrastructure to ensure that the trials are conducted safely, ethically and legally. LICR clinical trials are listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.Cancer Initiatives
A great strength of the LICR is its funding flexibility, which allows the Institute to bring together multi-disciplinary 'super-groups' into Programs or Initiatives that leverage large-scale resources and technologies - internal and external - to collaboratively and strategically investigate and develop research findings with real patient application.In 'Cancer Initiatives,' LICR investigators are working together to study melanoma, and brain, breast and colorectal cancers.
In 'Programs,' LICR investigators focus on disease processes or new therapeutic modalities. Current Programs are Antibody Targeting, Cancer Vaccines, and Clinical Genomics.
Intellectual Property & Licensing
As of January 1, 2006, LICR was the non-profit organization holding the highest number of patented genes. The Institute's philosophy is that pharmaceutical and biotechnologyBiotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
companies will not undertake the large investment required to develop and market commercial cancer therapies without the expectation of a future financial return. Thus LICR ensures the possibility of developing its discoveries by actively protecting the intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
of its research discoveries. LICR has formal licensing arrangements (non-exclusive wherever possible) involving its intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
with pharmaceutical and biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
companies in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and USA.
The Institute has also formed six spin-off companies. Its first, PIramed Ltd, was launched in 2003 and was acquired by Roche in 2008. Another, Recepta (launched in 2007), was Brazil's first oncology biotechnology company.
Founder
The organisation was established in 1971 by the American businessman and philanthropistPhilanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
Mr. Daniel K. Ludwig
Daniel K. Ludwig
Daniel Keith Ludwig was a US shipping magnate and billionaire. Even though he was one of the wealthiest men of his day, his name was little known...
, who bequeathed his entire international holdings - a substantial proportion of his estate - for the endowment of the Institute. Mr. Ludwig's domestic (US) holdings were used to create the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, which was established to fund cancer research at six leading academic institutions in the USA: Pritzker School of Medicine
Pritzker School of Medicine
The Pritzker School of Medicine is the M.D. granting unit of the Biological Sciences Division of the University of Chicago. It is located on the University's main campus in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, and matriculated its first class in 1927...
(Chicago, IL), Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
(Boston, MA), Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
(Baltimore, MD), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(Cambridge, MA), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
(New York, NY), and Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford University Medical Center represents the Stanford Hospital and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and is located at 300 Pasteur Drive in Stanford, California. Stanford Hospital provides both general acute care services and tertiary medical care for patients locally, nationally and...
(Stanford, CA).