CANCER

SUMMER 2001 / VOL. 1, ISSUE 1

WWW.ALLIRELANDNCI.ORG

Consortium

Ireland-Northern Ireland-National Cancer Institute

Key participants at the press briefing for the release of the All-Ireland Cancer Statistics Report are (left to right)

Dr. Harry Comber, National Cancer Registry, Ireland; Dr. Paul Walsh, National Cancer Registry, Ireland; 

Dr. Anna Gavin, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry; and Dr. Richard Klausner, National Cancer Institute, 

United States.

A periodic update of progress and events

Major Initiatives 

of the IrelandNorthern Ireland-NCI

Cancer Consortium

• Education and exchange 

of medical, nursing, and

scientific scholars

• Enhancement of clinical

trials infrastructure

• Teleconferencing to 

facilitate education and

dialogue

• Consolidation of cancer

registry data

• Improvement in clinical

services for cancer

patients

Visit our Web site at

www.allirelandnci.org

In May 2001, health ministers Micheál

Martin, of Ireland, and Bairbre de

Brún, of Northern Ireland, met in

Dublin with top health officials of their

countries and the United States to

announce publication of the first AllIreland Cancer Statistics Report. The

report is a joint effort of the Northern

Ireland Cancer Registry and the

National Cancer Registry of Ireland

documenting cancer rates, trends, and

outcomes on the entire island of Ireland.

The report was sponsored by the

Ireland-Northern Ireland-National

Cancer Institute Cancer Consortium,

a tri-partite alliance of the health

departments of Ireland, Northern

Ireland, and the United States. It is 

the first joint product to be delivered

by the Consortium, which is also 

supporting professional training,

research, and technology improvements

in the battle against cancer. (For more

on the Consortium, see inside.) The

joint effort of the two cancer registries

to study cancer demographics and statistics on an all-island basis will 

provide valuable baseline information

for researchers and health care 

professionals in cancer prevention,

research, treatment, and care on the

island. (The full report is available at

www.allirelandnci.org or by contacting

either Registry.) ■

Health Ministers of Ireland and Northern

Ireland Announce the First All-Ireland

Cancer Statistics Report

Department of Health and Children

Ireland

Department of Health, 

Social Services & Public Safety

Northern Ireland

Department of Health and 

Human Services

United States 
T H E B O A R D ’ S 

Message from 

the Directors

Enthusiasm sustained 

in year of planning, progress

Remarkable things can happen when

people work together. Building upon

the enthusiasm generated during the

NCI-All Ireland Cancer Conference,

in October 1999, the IrelandNorthern Ireland-National Cancer

Institute Cancer Consortium has

made much progress toward developing joint programmes in scholar

exchange, cancer registries, information technology sharing, and clinical

trials to advance cancer research and

care on the island of Ireland. 

This unique alliance reaches deep into

the cancer communities of all three 

jurisdictions to bring together the

best resources, systems, technology,

and ideas. Our hope, as these programmes take shape, is to involve more

and more of our countries’ cancer

experts, students, educators, politicians, and others in the process of

enhancing cancer research on the

island. 

We look forward to further success

and increased collaboration in the

years ahead. 

Dr. James Kiely

Ireland

Dr. Henrietta Campbell

Northern Ireland

Dr. Richard Klausner

United States

Look for updates and opportunities

for involvement in future issues of

this newsletter and at 

www.allirelandnci.org. ■

How the

Consortium Works

The Consortium began as a small

governing group of health officials

tasked with implementing the 

objectives in the Memorandum of

Understanding between three governments. It has grown to a collaborative group of diverse health care 

professionals, researchers, administrators, and technicians from all 

cancer communities. The Board of

Directors meets twice a year 

with chairmanship rotating annually

between the Chief Medical Officers

of Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

The Implementation Group brings

recommendations forward to the

board. Ad hoc working groups are

established to develop recommendations for specific initiatives. ■

Board of Directors

Implementation Group

Working Groups

Scholar 

Exchange

Clinical

Trials 

Cancer

Registries

IT/

Telecommunications Nursing

CANCER Consortium

Ireland-Northern Ireland-National Cancer Institute

2

Ireland-Northern Ireland-National Cancer Institute 

Cancer Consortium

Members of the Board of Directors (left to right): Dr. Richard Klausner, Director, National Cancer

Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.; Dr. James Kiely, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health and

Children, Dublin, Ireland; Dr. Henrietta Campbell, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, Social

Services & Public Safety, Belfast Northern Ireland.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. See page 6 for legend.

In October 1999, 600 oncologists, nurses, scientists, and government health officials from Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the

United States convened in Belfast, Northern Ireland for a 3-day

conference that launched the Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI

Cancer Consortium. The conference opened with the signing of an

historic agreement between the Departments of Health in Ireland

and Northern Ireland and the U.S. National Cancer Institute at

Stormont Parliament Buildings where political representatives and

conference attendees gathered to witness the event. The agreement forges a strategic alliance between the three jurisdictions to

improve clinical cancer services and patient care on the island of

Ireland and to foster joint collaboration in cancer research and

development. At the close of the conference, three working

groups met to develop cross-border initiatives in the three 

areas identified for cooperation: Cancer Registries and

Epidemiology, Scholar Exchange/ Training, and Informatics 

and Telecommunications. ■

NCI-All Ireland Cancer

Conference Launches

Cancer Consortium

Coming in 2002...the second NCI-All

Ireland Cancer Conference in Ireland

CORNER

Members of the

Implementation Group

Ireland

Dr. Ruth Barrington, Chief Executive, Health Research Board, Dublin

Dr. Peter Daly, Associate Professor, Medical Oncology, Trinity College,

St. James’s Hospital, Dublin

Mr. Michael Lyons, Chief Executive, East Coast Area Health Board,

Bray, County Wicklow

Ms. Peta Taaffe, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health and

Children, Dublin

Northern Ireland

Professor Bert Rima, Assistant Director, Research and Development

Office, Belfast

Ms. Judith Hill, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health, Social

Services & Public Safety, Belfast

Dr. Patrick Johnston, Director, Cancer Research Centre, Queen’s

University of Belfast, Belfast City Hospital

Mr. Raymond McMillen, Project Manager, The Campbell

Commissioning Project, Belfast

U.S. National Cancer Institute

Dr. Carmen Allegra, Vice Deputy Director for Extramural Science,

NCI

Dr. Gregory Curt, Clinical Director, NCI

Ms. MaryAnn Guerra, Deputy Director for Management, NCI 

Chair

Working Group Areas: Key

Contacts

Cancer Registries

Dr. Harry Comber, Director, National Cancer Registry, Ireland, Cork

Dr. Anna Gavin, Director, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Belfast

Dr. Brenda Edwards, Associate Director, Surveillance Research

Program, NCI

Information Technology

Dr. Donal Hollywood, Consultant, Clinical Oncologist, St. Luke’s

Hospital, Dublin

Mr. Desmond O’Loan, Information Technology Manager, Belfast City

Hospital Trust, Belfast

Mr. Douglas Hageman, Chief, Office of Clinical Informatics, NCI

Clinical Trials

Dr. Ruth Barrington, Chief Executive, Health Research Board, Dublin

Professor Bert Rima, Assistant Director, Research and Development

Office, Belfast

Dr. Carmen Allegra, Vice Deputy Director for Extramural Science,

NCI

Scholar Exchange 

Dr. Peter Daly, Associate Professor, Medical Oncology, Trinity College,

St. James’s Hospital, Dublin

Dr. Patrick Johnston, Director, Cancer Research Centre, Queen’s

Hospital of Belfast, Belfast City Hospital

Dr. Gregory Curt, Clinical Director, NCI

Nursing

Ms. Peta Taaffe, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health and

Children, Dublin

Ms. Judith Hill, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health, Social

Services & Public Safety, Belfast

Ms. Joyce Stocker, Nursing Supervisor, Navy Medical Oncology

Branch, NCI

3
Consortium Awards 

Two Fellowships in

Cancer Epidemiology 

The Consortium awarded its first

fellowships under the Scholar

Exchange programme to Dr. Peter

McCarron, of Northern Ireland, 

and Dr. Paul Walsh, of Ireland. 

Both scholars began their 3-year 

fellowships in cancer epidemiology 

in January 2001, after competing

among more than 40 applicants

from Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Drs. McCarron and Walsh will spend

their first year as fellows at the

National Cancer Institute in

Bethesda, Maryland, where they 

will develop their research proposals

for all-island studies that they will

initiate when they return to their

home countries. ■

Shared Technology to

Support Coordinated

Clinical Trials, Training

Enhancements to the island’s 

informatics infrastructure are being

made to support coordinated clinical

trials and facilitate cross-border

learning and education with the

National Cancer Institute. Belfast

City Hospital is equipped and staff

trained in the National Cancer

Institute’s net-TrialsTM system to provide a uniform system for recording 

and analysing patient information 

in all-island clinical trials. Installation

of NCI’s TELESYNERGYTM medical

imaging workstation has begun at

St. Luke’s Hospital, Dublin. This system enables remote consultations 

and provides “virtual” training

opportunities without the constraints of time and travel. ■

Web Site and Help Desk

Serve Up Training

Opportunities and More

The Consortium’s new Web site is 

a wealth of information on major

initiatives, news, and events.

Nurses, oncologists, students, and

other cancer personnel can learn

about training and education 

programmes available through the

Consortium, and access the

Consortium’s Help Desk to be 

connected to the right programme

administrators. The Web site also

contains download-able documents,

such as the recent All-Ireland Cancer

Statistics Report, video footage,

future meetings and events, and

access to current and accurate 

cancer information for the 

general public from NCI.

(www.allirelandnci.org) ■

All-Ireland Cancer 

Statistics Report 

Published

The Northern Ireland Cancer

Registry and the National Cancer

Registry of Ireland have joined 

forces to identify geographic and

population differences in cancer 

patterns and to study possible links 

between cancer incidence and

occupations, the environment and

lifestyle influences throughout 

the island of Ireland. (See story, 

page 1.) ■

What Has Happened Since 

the Conference?

Summer Training in

Cancer Prevention

Ten scholars from Ireland and

Northern Ireland will attend the NCI

Summer Curriculum in Cancer

Prevention, a 5-week programme

from 9 July through 10 August, 2001.

The course includes principles and

practices of cancer prevention,

control, and molecular prevention.

The course is open to physicians,

nurses, geneticists, and others with

an interest in cancer prevention and

control. Seventy applications were

submitted – 47 from Ireland and 23

from Northern Ireland – for the 10

slots sponsored by the Consortium

and funded by home jurisdictions.

Call for Proposals in

Ireland for Clinical Trial

Centres

In May 2001, the Health Research

Board issued a call for proposals

from hospitals in Ireland already

treating cancer patients for the

development of clinical trials centres. Selected clinical trials cancer

centres will form an all-island cooperative group, coordinated by the

Irish Clinical Oncology Research

Group (ICORG), strengthened and

reorganised to fulfill this function

with offices in Dublin and Belfast.

The network is being modeled after

the NCI Cooperative Clinical Trials

Group, which conducts trials in the

United States from multiple locations. The cancer centres will utilise

the NCI-developed automated

Clinical Trials Information System -

called net-TrialsTM - to provide a uniform system for recording and

analysing patient information in the

trials. Working as a co-operative,

the various centres will form the

critical mass for trials and provide

the scientific and data analysis

essential to the conduct of highquality trials.

4
Clinical Delegation,

September 2000

Standing: Dr. John Gallin, NIH

Clinical Center Director,

USA; Dr. Ruth Barrington.

Chief Executive, Health

Research Board, Ireland;

Prof. Ingrid Allen, Director,

Research and Development

Office, N. Ireland; 

Dr. Seamus McAleer,

Coordinator of Clinical Trials Unit, Belfast City Hospital; Dr. Peter Daly, Trinity College, St. James's

Hospital, Dublin; Seated: Dr. Brian Moulton, Irish Clinical Oncology Research Group (ICORG); Dr.

John P. Crown, Chairman, ICORG; Dr. Patrick Johnston, Director, Cancer Research Centre, Queen’s

University, Belfast, Belfast City Hospital.

Nursing Delegation,

January 2001

Standing: Eileen Furlong,

University College Dublin;

Marie Glackin, Queen’s

University, Belfast; Hugh

McKenna, University of Ulster; Joy Wiszneauckas, NCI; Cecily Begley, University of Dublin-Trinity

College; Dianne Reeves, NCI; Annette Wysocki, NIH; Georgie Cusack, Clinical Center, NIH.

Seated: Judith Hill, Chief Nursing Officer, N. Ireland; MaryAnn Guerra, Deputy Director for

Management, NCI; Peta Taaffe, Chief Nursing Officer, Ireland.

Art Exhibit Travels 

from Belfast to

Washington to

Dublin

Strength from Unity: Expressions on

Cancer from the Island of Ireland and

the United States, is a collection of

paintings, photographs, tapestries, 

and poems by artists from Northern

Ireland, Ireland, and the United States

whose lives have been touched by

cancer. The art exhibit was originally

displayed at Waterfront Hall in Belfast

as part of the NCI-All Ireland Cancer

Conference in October 1999. The

exhibit went on tour after the conference to highlight the importance of an

international dialogue in the fight

against cancer. United States venues

included the U.S. Senate, the National

Institutes of Health, and a partial

showing at the Irish Ambassador’s 

residence. After its U.S. tour, the

exhibit moves to Dublin where it will

be on view 26 June to 6 July 2001 at

the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre. 

The exhibit can be viewed at 

www.allirelandnci.org under 

“art exhibit.”

STRENGTH

Unity

from

‘‘

’’

U.S. Senator Connie Mack (Florida), center, and NCI

Director Dr. Richard Klausner, right, congratulate

Massachusetts’ artist Eleanor Appleyard at the opening 

of the art exhibit Strength from Unity at the Russell U.S.

Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., in April 2000. 

Physician and Nursing Delegations

Visit the National Cancer Institute

Two delegations of health care professionals from Ireland and Northern

Ireland visited the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland in

recent months to develop scholar exchange and clinical trials programmes. Both visits involved intensive meetings and helped considerably to increase understanding and move initiatives of the Consortium

forward.

In September 2000, a group of seven physicians and officials spent 

5 days at the NCI, meeting with dozens of scientists to discuss 

the mechanics of establishing an All-Ireland Clinical Trials group, 

establishment of a Scholar Exchange programme between NCI 

and institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and cooperative 

nitiatives already underway in the areas of training, cancer registries, 

and IT/telecommunications. 

In January 2001, a delegation of six nurses from Ireland and Northern

Ireland spent 4 days meeting with NCI nurses and scientists to discuss

development of education and training exchange opportunities in the

field of oncology nursing. This delegation included the Chief Nursing

Officers from Ireland and Northern Ireland and nursing education representatives from universities with nursing programmes. ■

5
CANCER Consortium

Ireland-Northern Ireland-National Cancer Institute

A periodic update of progress and events

What’s next?

With key organisational structures in

place, the Consortium is moving

ahead with several initiatives:

• Providing training opportunities

to cancer personnel through the

scholar exchange programme

• Collaborating on collection and

data management between registries in Ireland and Northern

Ireland

• Developing capacity for cancer

centres in Ireland to enable

increased opportunities for 

clinical trials research

• Implementating new technologies

at hospitals and cancer centres in

the North and South

• Expanding awareness of the

Consortium’s activities 

• Planning for the Consortium’s 

second NCI All-Ireland Cancer

conference to be held in 2002. 

Signing of the Memorandum of

Understanding (pg. 3)

For Ireland

1) Mr. Brian Cowan, T.D., Former Minister

of Health and Children

2) Dr. James Kiely, Chief Medical Officer, 

Department of Health and Children

For Northern Ireland

3) Mr. George Howarth, M.P., Former

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Northern Ireland Office of the United

Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

Ireland

4) Dr. Henrietta Campbell, Chief Medical

Officer, Department of Health and

Social Services

For the United States

5) Dr. Harold Varmus, Former Director,

National Institutes of Health

6) Dr. Richard Klausner, Director, National

Cancer Institute (NCI)

7) Dr. Edison Liu, Former Director,

Division of Clinical Sciences, NCI

8) The Hon. George Mitchell, former 

U.S. Senate Majority Leader and 

honorary chancellor of Queen’s

University, Belfast

9) The Hon. Connie Mack, former U.S.

Senator 

6

This newsletter is published 

periodically by the IrelandNorthern Ireland-National Cancer

Institute Cancer Consortium 

and distributed in Ireland, Northern

Ireland, and the United States. 

The Consortium welcomes your

comments and suggestions. 

Please direct all communications 

to the Consortium’s Help Desk:

E-mail: 

consortium@matthewsgroup.com

Telephone: 

(from Ireland/Northern Ireland):

001-301-984-7191 ext. 606

Address: 

Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI

Cancer Consortium

c/o MMG

6101 Executive Boulevard

Suite 300

Rockville, Maryland 20852

U.S.A. 

Web site: 

www.allirelandnci.org