London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Many of us believe that policies around cancer care are based on the best available evidence, bringing together the best expertise, and focusing on what matters most - improving patient outcomes and experience. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. Professor Ajay Aggarwal will discuss his own academic journey as an oncologist with a public health interest, into a clinical academic that sought to demonstrate the evidence vacuum in many of our policies, how this shapes our care and the resulting challenges health systems face in delivering affordable and equitable cancer care, both in the UK and internationally. 

Ajay will highlight that achieving progress on cancer is as much a health system issue as one that requires innovation, but either way necessitates the highest quality research. Ajay will also consider how clinical practice is often shaped by political and commercial factors, and how the lack of strong evidence-based policies coupled with weak regulatory environments can negatively impact equity and affordability of care, especially where investments are diverted from other priorities that could create substantially more population level benefits. 

There remains hope however, and Ajay will endeavor to highlight the many solutions we can integrate at low cost in the UK and other international health systems using a strategic interdisciplinary approach, and the importance of focusing on the quality of care we deliver. 

The lecture will take place from 17.15 - 18.15, followed by a 1-hour in-person drinks reception in the Pumphandle Social.

Speaker

Professor Ajay Aggarwal

Professor Ajay Aggarwal is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist (specialising in the delivery of radiation and systemic cancer therapies) at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust, London and Professor of Cancer Services and Systems Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Ajay is the Clinical Director for the ten national cancer audits in England and Wales (NATCAN) and a member of the Executive Committee for the European Cancer Organisation. He has been the recipient of two fellowship awards from the National Institute for Health Research in 2014 and 2020 and is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cancer Policy.

In his role as the clinical lead for the UK National Prostate Cancer Audit, Ajay led the development and delivery of the first ever national hospital outcome reporting programme for radiotherapy. His research has also contributed significantly to national and international policy discussion around the affordability of cancer care and the value of new technologies in cancer medicine which has influenced directly the WHO Cancer Drug Pricing and Benefits Taskforces. As co-chair of the Health Economics in Radiation Oncology (HERO) group within ESTRO (European Society for Radiation Oncology), he is leading the value-based health care initiative.

Ajay has previously worked at the World Health Organisation in Geneva and currently the Chief Investigator of the NIH funded ARCHERY study, the first prospective international multicentre trial across India, Jordan, Malaysia and South Africa evaluating the role of AI in the delivery of radiotherapy treatment.

Ajay graduated from Guy’s, Kings’ & St Thomas’ Medical school having attained a BSc in Management at Imperial College London. He has an MSc in the Science of Cancer from The Institute of Cancer Research and an MSc in Health, Population and Society from The London School of Economics. He completed his PhD in Health Services and Policy Research at LSHTM.

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