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After years of dedicated service, Professor Gordon Cook is stepping down as the Chair of the Research Advisory Group (RAG). Throughout his tenure, he has been instrumental in guiding the group and strengthening its role in supporting our research strategy, funding priorities and long-term vision.
The RAG plays a central role in helping Myeloma UK shape and deliver its research strategy. Bringing together experts across the myeloma field, the group provides the independent advice and scientific insight that informs our funding decisions, priorities and long-term vision. Their guidance helps ensure our research is rigorous, relevant and above all, focused on delivering what people living with myeloma need most.
“We are incredibly grateful to Gordon for his contribution to our research effort. In his role as Chair of the RAG Gordon has led our partnership with the UK’s best myeloma clinicians and researchers which is vital for our research investment. Gordon has brought his decades of experience and expertise as one of the UK’s leading myeloma researchers and clinicians, and his continued passion for helping people with myeloma lead longer and better lives to the role. We are proud of his association with Myeloma UK and look forward to continuing to work with him.”
Shelagh McKinlay, Director of Research and Advocacy, Myeloma UK
We are pleased that whilst stepping down from this role, Prof. Cook will continue to work with us in other capacities – reflecting the strong and collaborative partnership he has built with Myeloma UK and the wider myeloma community.
The RAG: expert voices guiding research decisions
For many in the clinical and research community, the RAG operates largely behind the scenes. However, RAG members play a critical role in shaping recommendations to make sure:
The needs and experiences of people affected by myeloma remain central to all decisions.
Our funded research portfolio reflects the most promising areas of scientific opportunity.
Strategic priorities are grounded in real-world developments and emerging evidence.
Their support spans advising on research funding priorities, development of our research strategy, horizon scanning for emerging trends, technologies and unmet need and ensuring alignment between our strategy and the evolving research landscape. In doing so, the RAG helps us to balance innovation with impact and ambition with patient focus.
Creating clarity, steering progress
As chair, Prof. Gordon Cook has played a pivotal role in ensuring that the RAG functions as an effective, forward-looking guide for Myeloma UK.
Prof. Cook’s ability to bring together diverse, expert voices whilst facilitating balanced, focused discussion kept conversations aligned to shared goals. Through his stewardship, he has ensured that the RAG has remained strategically focused, collaborative, constructive and, of course, grounded in patient need.
Driving change and evolution
In 2025, Myeloma UK launched a new research strategy – one created in partnership with myeloma research leaders and people affected by myeloma, to create a new approach to finding a cure. The RAG, led by Prof. Cook, was instrumental in guiding the development of this strategy by bringing together their insight into research on the horizon and the challenges faced by clinicians and patients today.
Later the same year, the RAG also undertook its own evolution to better serve the needs of people living with myeloma. The RAG relaunched with a more diverse pool of experts – from haematologists to leading scientists and including people living with myeloma. Prof. Cook’s support and guidance throughout this process ensured the RAG became exactly what it needed to be: a group ready to support the delivery of the next phase of research here at Myeloma UK.
Guiding research innovation
The RAG has played a pivotal role in steering Myeloma UK’s involvement in clinical trials. With the support of the RAG, in 2019 the Concept and Access Research Programme (CARP) was established by Myeloma UK, in partnership with the UK Myeloma Research Alliance (UKMRA). The programme was created to support development and delivery of early-phase trials in the UK, designed with patient need at the centre.
As CARP came to an end, Myeloma UK looked to the next stage in driving innovative clinical research developed with patients and for patients. The RAG was critical to ensuring we capitalised on the huge achievements of CARP, whilst pivoting to ensure we keep pace with the evolving research and clinical trials landscape. This led to the launch of the MyeTRIAL partnership, in collaboration with the University of Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit, in December of last year. MyeTRIAL builds on the achievements of CARP and puts people living with myeloma at the heart of trial design.
Myeloma UK’s research extends beyond trial design with a wide portfolio of funded research projects, each selected after rigorous guidance from the RAG. The group has ensured Myeloma UK invests in the areas that matter most to people affected by myeloma, from supporting some of the first steps in early diagnosis research, to funding the first survivorship grants. The RAG’s invaluable advice ensures our funding calls and the research we support remain focused on the questions that matter to people living with myeloma – including important overlooked areas of unmet need that may struggle to secure funding through traditional routes.
A collective effort
Alongside Prof. Cook, several other members have reached the end of their term in the RAG. Thank you to Dr Sally Moore, Dr Charlotte Pawlyn and Mr Piers Gaunt, whose expertise and commitment have been invaluable. Together, their contributions have helped to shape Myeloma UK’s research and strengthened our ability to create real change for people living with myeloma.
The RAG will continue in excellent hands, as Professor Guy Pratt takes the reins as Chair. In his prior role as vice chair, Prof. Pratt has played a core role in the RAG’s work and in shaping the current group. We look forward to working with him as the RAG continues to support Myeloma UK’s research ambitions, ensuring our work remains firmly rooted in the needs of the myeloma community.
