Professor David James Kerr

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 1956, Glasgow) is a British

Cancer Research Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate ...

er. His primary area of research is treatment and management of

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

. He served as Chief Research Advisor at Sidra Medical and Research Center in Doha, Qatar. David James Kerr is Professor of Cancer Medicine and Former Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was also President-Elect for

European Society for Medical Oncology The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) is a professional organisation for medical oncology. With more than 40,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 177 countries worldwide, ESMO was founded in 1975. ''Annals of Onco ...

(2009). David James Kerr’s

clinical research Clinical research is a branch of medical research that involves people and aims to determine the effectiveness (efficacy) and safety of medications, devices, diagnostic products, and treatment regimens intended for improving human health. The ...

into adjuvant therapy of early-stage colorectal cancer has contributed to saving thousands of lives over the past two decades.

Early life and education

Kerr was born in 1956 in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He attended Dunard Street Primary School, Maryhill, and Eastwood High Secondary School. Knowing from a relatively early age that he wanted to become a doctor having read

A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (Cronogue) (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981) was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel (novel), The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish physician who serves in a Welsh coal mining, minin ...

's ''

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

'' as a child, he went on to study biochemistry and medicine at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

, and subsequently became an ontological clinical scientist following specialist and fellowship training within the Department of Medical Oncology at the University of Glasgow under Professor S. Kaye (1984–1992).

Career

Beginning in March 1992, Kerr served as Professor of Clinical Oncology at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

and Director of the Clinical Trials Unit where he and Professor Alan Rickinson built the Institute of Cancer Studies. In 1994, he was appointed Clinical Director of the Regional Cancer Task Force for the West Midlands. There, he developed a "hub and spoke"

Network model In computing, the network model is a database model conceived as a flexible way of representing objects and their relationships. Its distinguishing feature is that the schema, viewed as a graph in which object types are nodes and relationship ty ...

for cancer services in the region. The key elements of the plan are: *Site specialization by cancer surgeons and oncologists *Multidisciplinary working *Development of regional treatment guidelines (often precursor of national guidelines) *Use of IT as a social glue to bind the network together. He undertook the first national audit of cancer waiting times for Sir

Kenneth Calman Sir Kenneth Charles Calman (born 25 December 1941) is a Scottish doctor and academic who formerly worked as a surgeon, oncologist and cancer researcher and held the position of Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, and then England. He was Warden ...

, who was then Chief Medical Officer which was one of the drivers which led to the Government creating a National Cancer Plan. In 2001, he was appointed Rhodes Professor of

Clinical pharmacology Clinical pharmacology is "that discipline that teaches, does research, frames policy, gives information and advice about the actions and proper uses of medicines in humans and implements that knowledge in clinical practice". Clinical pharmacology ...

and Cancer Therapeutics and Head of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. At the same time, he was also asked by the Secretary of State for Health

Alan Milburn Alan Milburn (born 27 January 1958) is a British politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 1992 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he served for five years in the Cabinet, first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury f ...

to undertake a review of NHS research strategy into cancer. The resultant blueprint for the provision of infrastructure to support clinical cancer research in the UK led to the establishment of the NHS Cancer Research Network (NCRN) and the National Translational Cancer Research Network (NTRAC). Kerr was subsequently appointed the Director of NTRAC. He subsequently worked with colleagues to build an Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cancer Treatment Center in Oxford. In 2004, Kerr was invited by Scotland’s

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

to chair the work of a National Framework Advisory Group to consider the future shape of the NHS in Scotland. This Group produced three volumes of work, "Building a

Health Service Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is deliver ...

Fit for the Future" (Vol I and II) and a

web-based A web application (or web app) is application software that is created with web technologies and runs via a web browser. Web applications emerged during the late 1990s and allowed for the server to dynamically build a response to the request, ...

data link A data link is a means of telecommunications link, connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving digital information (data communication). It can also refer to a set of electronics assemblies, consisting of a t ...

showing the Reports from the individual action teams. This has been adopted as the blueprint for Scotland’s NHS over the next 20 years. In 2009, David Kerr temporarily left Oxford University to serve as the Chief Research Advisor at the Sidra Medical and Research Center. He also became a Member of the Supreme Council of Health in April 2009. Although he has since returned to the UK and is no longer affiliated with Sidra, Kerr has made significant contributions to cancer care and research in Europe. He played a leading role in co-chairing the Anglo-French Scientific committee for the centenary of the Entente-Cordiale in 2004, focusing on cancer research as the joint theme of the Queen and President Chirac. Additionally, Kerr successfully established the first network of top cancer centers in India, transforming it into a globally recognized trials network and providing training for numerous young Indian oncologists. He has brought worldwide attention to the looming epidemic of cancer which is a risk of claiming the lives of more than a million Africans every year. He organized the first ever African Cancer Reform convention in London (2007). This was attended by 27 African Health ministries, led to the London Declaration calling for immediate action to develop cancer control plans for these nations. Subsequently Kerr was asked by African ministers to lead a new organization, AfrOx to aid national cancer planning in Africa. AfrOx has already received international support (WHO, IAEA) and is seen as a beacon to establish cancer care in Africa. He has completed a National Cancer Plan for

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, has been invited by the governments of

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

to lead their cancer plan activities, has initiated a mass vaccination program for

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

, the commonest cancer affecting African women, and is coordinating the International Oncology Association's engagement in this field. Kerr spoke at a New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy event and blogged on the Guardian about it.

Published works

Kerr has published over 350 papers in

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...

ed journals. His primary areas of research are colorectal cancer and

gene therapy Gene therapy is Health technology, medical technology that aims to produce a therapeutic effect through the manipulation of gene expression or through altering the biological properties of living cells. The first attempt at modifying human DNA ...

. He has been awarded several patents which have led to spin out biotech companies – Cobra Therapeutics, Oxford Cancer Biomarkers, and Celleron Therapeutics. He sits on a number of general editorial boards including Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology journal.

Awards and honours

*1987: European School of Oncology International Award for outstanding contribution to chemotherapy research *1995: Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow *1996: Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

, London *1999: 2nd International Prize for Excellence in the field of Colorectal Cancer Research and Treatment – Awarded by International Drug Development Centre and European Association for Research into Gastrointestinal Cancer *2000: Fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...

*2000:

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Nye Bevan Award for Innovation *2001 : Elected Fellow of Academy of Medical Sciences *2002: Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to cancer research *2006:

Award for distinguished contribution to cancer therapy and research in Europehttp://www.worldgicancer.com/WCGI/WGIC2009/About%20ESMO.pdf *2006: Distinguished Medieval Lecture, University of Manchester *2007: Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners *2007: Fulton Lecture, University of Glasgow *2008: Bruce Cain Memorial Lecture, Cancer Societies of Australia and New Zealand *2009 : Elected Founding Fellow of European Academy of Cancer Scientists *2010 : Elected Felloe of Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh *2017: Distinguished Harvard Global Health Catalyst Award, Boston, USA

References

External links

Kerr's official web pageAfroxIndoxCelleron Cobra TherapeuticsOxford University's Experimental Therapeutics Programme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, David 1956 births Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow British cancer researchers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians 20th-century Scottish medical doctors 21st-century Scottish medical doctors Medical doctors from Glasgow Academics of the University of Birmingham