AN EAST Dunbartonshire MP, who is also a cancer survivor, has visited the Cancer Research Beatson UK institute in Glasgow to learn about the research being done there.

Amy Callaghan, the SNP MP was 19-year-old when she was diagnosed with skin cancer and battled the disease for seven years. 

On a fact-finding mission, she met with leading researchers who gave an insight into the work they are doing to help Cancer Research UK achieve its mission to see more people survive the disease.

Ms Callaghan said: “The life-saving work Cancer Research UK scientists are doing here at the Beatson Institute is crucial.

“One in two of us will get cancer and so medical research charities like Cancer Research UK are the life blood of research and development.

“The charity’s mission is clearly one that’s close to my heart.

"It’s been incredible to discover that thanks to the generosity of its supporters, Cancer Research UK’s work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been at the heart of progress that has seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.”

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Having been cancer-free since 2014, the SNP MP for East Dunbartonshire said she feels very fortunate to have survived and she has no doubt the charity is the heart of helping more people like her.

On her visit, Ms Callaghan met with Beatson Institute director Professor Owen Sansom.

He explained that while COVID-19 had a significant impact on the research activity at the Beatson Institute last year, researchers were still able to publish and contribute to 133 research papers in 2020.

During her tour, Ms  saw first-hand how scientists at the Beatson Institute are harnessing the immune system to attack many different types of cancer, as well as finding new ways to diagnose cancer early.

Professor Sansom said: “We were pleased to welcome Amy Callaghan to the Beatson Institute and explain how our scientists are playing a part to beat cancer.

“Her own personal experience is an important reminder to all of us here that scientific research holds the key to saving more lives from cancer. 

“This past year proves, more than any other, the value of research and what can be achieved together. Thanks to our incredible supporters, we are more focussed than ever on our ambition of seeing 3 in 4 people survive their cancer by 2034.”