IMPACCT
Initiative for Multi-stakeholder Partnership to Accelerate Children’s Cancer Trials
Speeding up access to trials for children and young people with cancer.
What is IMPACCT?
IMPACCT is a national collaboration working to remove delays and unblock barriers that slow down clinical trials for children and young people with cancer. We bring together experts across the trial ecosystem to make trials simpler to set up and easier to access.
IMPACCT was created to solve practical bottlenecks in UK children’s cancer research - things like slow start‑up times and fragmented processes that delay trials opening for families. We convene the people who can fix those problems and co‑design workable changes across the system.
Why trials matter for children and young people
The Role of Solving Kids’ Cancer UK
Solving Kids’ Cancer UK is the Secretariat for IMPACCT, ensuring that the initiative remains action-driven and patient-focused. By working closely with national bodies, clinical organisations, and policymakers, Solving Kids’ Cancer UK helps to create meaningful, systemic change, ultimately enabling children and young people to access life-saving treatments faster.
Meet the Chair
IMPACCT is led by Professor Pam Kearns, an expert in paediatric oncology with extensive experience in clinical trial research. Professor Kearns guides IMPACCT’s strategic direction, ensuring that the initiative remains focused on delivering tangible improvements in trial efficiency.
Pam Kearns is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Paediatric Oncology at the University of Birmingham, where she was Director of the University of Birmingham’s Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit from 2011-2023 and Director of the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences from 2021-2024. Her research is focused of drug development and innovation in the design and delivery of national and international clinical trials for childhood cancers.
She is a member of the Department of Health and Social Care's Children's and Young People Cancer Taskforce. She also chairs the Research Assessment Panel for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. She is Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees for Cancer Research UK and also Chair of the Board of Trustees for A Child of Mine, a charity dedicated to supporting bereaved parents and is a Scientific Advisor to Children with Cancer UK and a Trusted Advisor to the Little Princess Trust.
IMPACCT's Priority Areas
In its first phase, IMPACCT has identified three key priority areas that contribute to delays in trial set-up. Each area is being addressed through dedicated Task & Finish groups with representation from experts in the field.
Pharmacy processes - Creating better guidelines, templates and ways of shared working to make it easier for hospital pharmacies to prepare for a trial.
Research & Development (R&D) approvals - Streamlining complex sign-off procedures so that hospital research teams can approve and action set-up tasks more quickly.
Trial workforce - Mapping and supporting practical solutions to make sure hospitals have enough trained staff to deliver trials in a timely way.
Latest updates from IMPACCT
Read our regular IMPACCT bulletins below.
Reports and publications
Meet the IMPACCT Team
Prof Pam Kearns
IMPACCT Chair
Pam Kearns is Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Oncology at the University of Birmingham, Director of Birmingham’s Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit 2011-2023 and Director of its Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences 2021-2024. She is President of ITCC, Board member for ACCELERATE, Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees for Cancer Research UK and Chair of Solving Kids' Cancer UK’s IMPACCT (Initiative for Multi-stakeholder Partnership to Accelerate Children’s Cancer Trials). She chairs the Research Assessment Panel for Great Ormond Street Hospital, is a member of UK’s National Institute for Health Research Invention for Innovation Funding Committee and several other (inter)national academic advisory boards.
Pam brings her extensive experience and expertise on academic clinical trials to IMPACCT, and has been a crucial pillar to the initiative and it's success to date.
Dr Eleni Syrimi
IMPACCT Fellow
I am currently an ITCC Drug Development Fellow at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and an IMPACCT Fellow with Solving Kids’ Cancer UK, focusing on improving access to innovative treatments through early-phase clinical trials and international collaboration.
I completed my PhD at the University of Birmingham, funded by a Cancer Research UK Clinical PhD Fellowship, where I used advanced immunological and machine learning techniques to characterise immune system changes in children with cancer. My research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and presented at both national and international conferences.
I completed my paediatric oncology training at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. During my training, I contributed to several European collaborative initiatives and remain an active member of the Young SIOPE Group, supporting efforts to improve outcomes for children with cancer across Europe.
With a passion for translational research I am committed to bridging the gap between scientific discovery and clinical practice, ensuring that every child with cancer has access to the best possible treatments and outcomes. I am excited to take on the role of IMPACCT Fellow, helping to find practical solutions that accelerate access to life-changing clinical trials for young people with cancer.
Emily Hall
Public Affairs & Advocacy Lead
Emily leads the work within our Awareness pillar - with a particular focus on driving our public affairs activities including national campaigning efforts and parliamentary engagement. In addition, Emily has a strategic oversight of our research advocacy efforts, especially our participation as patient partners in EU funded research projects.
Emily first joined the charity in 2021 with a keen interest in research, having gotten a Masters degree in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield two years prior. Since then, she has found a passion for patient and public engagement in research that now underpins the work she does to drive change in the research landscape.
Outside of work she enjoys spending time outdoors, reading a good book and slowly learning how to crochet!
Gail Jackson
Chief Executive Officer
Gail joined Solving Kids’ Cancer UK in April 2020 as the charity’s CEO. Gail is passionate about working for organisations with children at its heart and this is what led her to Solving Kids’ Cancer UK.
Gail has a wealth of experience in supporting children and families, having started her career as a children’s social worker. Gail has held senior leadership positions within regional and national charities and was CEO of a regional community development charity.
Gail lives in rural Lincolnshire with her husband, two teenage children, two dogs and four hens.
IMPACCT Partners
