Our History
The Scottish Cancer Foundation was founded by two dedicated Cancer Researchers, Professor Sir Patrick Forrest, and Professor John Evans CBE, in 1997.
Their vision was to create a charity that would facilitate research aimed at addressing the high incidence of cancer in Scotland, and the poor outcomes in patients who develop the disease. Although there have been many improvements, a lot of work is still required, as cancer remains one of the major causes of premature death in the Scottish population.
Professor John Evans CBE
Professor Sir Patrick Forrest
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors currently consists of individuals who have a major interest in relieving the burden of cancer throughout Scotland.
Professor Robert J C Steele CBE
SCF Chairman
Professor of Surgery
University of Dundee
Dr David H. Brewster
Former Director of the Scottish Cancer Registry
Information Services Division
NHS National Services Scotland
Mr Malcolm Chisholm
Former MP, MSP and Minister (SG)
Minister for Health 2001-2004
Bryan Christie
Author & Journalist
Mr Alan Hartley
SCF Treasurer
Professor Gozde Ozakinci
Professor of Health Psychology
University of Stirling
Professor David Weller
Professor of General Practice
University of Edinburgh
External Advisors
Professor Farhat Din
Senior Lecturer
University of Edinburgh
Honorary Patrons
Lady Forrest
Joseph Morrow CBE – Lord Lyon King of Arms
Professor Linda Bauld OBE
Professor Rowan Parks – President RCSEd
Our Aims
Our aims can be summarised under three headings.
Improving the Understanding of Cancer and its Treatment Throughout Scotland
To many the word "cancer" still implies incurable disease, and it is widely believed that little can be done to prevent it. This is no longer the case, and one of our central missions is to provide information about how cancer can be prevented, detected early and treated effectively. To this end, we have links on our website to finding out more about cancer and how it can be prevented.
Promoting the Prevention of Cancer in Scotland
In addition to providing information about how to avoid cancer, the Scottish Cancer Foundation provided support to the Scottish Cancer Prevention Network for 15 years. The Foundation remains committed to to keeping the general public informed on cancer risk reduction
Nurturing Collaborative Research Across Scotland
Scotland has some of the finest cancer researchers in the world, but they tend to work in relative isolation. The Scottish Cancer Foundation believes that by facilitating interactions between the strong cancer research groups in Scotland, we can move forward more rapidly and effectively, to develop interventions that can prevent or more effectively treat cancer.