The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research

The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research (BICR; also called the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute) is a biological research facility that conducts research into the basic biology of cancer. It is based in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research Building, Glasgow, UK, May 2008

The Institute is named in recognition of the early works of Sir George Beatson, a surgeon, who in 1912 established a research department at a cancer hospital in Glasgow. This department became independent from the hospital in 1967 when the Institute was founded by the then Director, Dr John Paul. Dr Paul also raised sufficient funds to move the Beatson in 1976 to its present location on the Garscube Estate, where it has since interacted closely with researchers at the University of Glasgow.

Professor John Wyke became Director in 1987 and Professor Karen Vousden was appointed as Director in 2002. In 2016, Karen went on to become CRUK’s chief scientist[1] and Prof Owen Sansom took over as Director, having served as Deputy Director since 2011.[2] The Institute moved in 2008 to a new research building built by Reiach and Hall Architects[3] with modern laboratory space, dedicated areas for equipment, several meeting rooms and a lecture theatre.

Research groups at the Beatson Institute work in two key areas: Invasion and Metastasis[4] and Cancer Metabolism, Growth and Survival. The Institute holds an annual meeting, the Beatson International Cancer Conference focused on one or other of these topics.