Historic gathering to mark life-changing Harrogate charity's 100th anniversary

Founded in the library of the Old Medical School at the University of Leeds on May 21, 1925, brought together 18 researchers, volunteers and supporters in the same room as a century ago.

Among the 18 was Jo Beagley, a Harrogate resident and Yorkshire Cancer Research trustee.

Jo was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer in 2014 at the age of 39.

She had surgery to remove the cancer, followed by chemotherapy.

Since her cancer returned in 2017, she has been treated with a drug called ‘Lynparza’, which was discovered with funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research and has been used to treat 140,000 people around the world.

“Lynparza has given me so many life experiences that I thought I may have missed out on before I started the treatment,” said Jo.

"I think it’s fantastic that medical advancements starting in Yorkshire are benefitting people not just in Yorkshire but people with cancer worldwide.”

From Jo Beagley’s first-hand experience, she is a firm believer in the physical and psychological benefit of exercise when navigating cancer, so always tries to make time to exercise around a busy family schedule.

Hosted by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the meeting was an opportunity to unite past, present and future researchers and supporters who have made vital contributions to the charity’s rich history of life-giving cancer breakthroughs and progress.

Among them was Professor Philip Quirke, Head of Pathology and Data Analytics at the University of Leeds, who has partnered with Yorkshire Cancer Research for over 40 years.

In 2005, Professor Quirke received funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research to lead a team of pioneering bowel cancer researchers at a new state-of-the-art facility at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds, established with the help of £1.7 million of funding from the charity.

A year later, Professor Quirke published a study of bowel cancer surgical technique that would increase the success of surgery for people with bowel cancer across the world.

For more information, visit: https://www.yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/be-a-changemaker