In 2023 the MJA welcomed back Roche as sponsor of the Gordon McVie Award for reporting cancer research, an award they also supported in 2022 when it was first introduced.

Tom Whipple of The Times winner of the Gordon McVie Award for reporting cancer research. Right to left: Lawrence McGinty, awards host, Parveen Dharar of sponsor Roche, Tom Whipple, Claudia McVie, widow of Gordon McVie

In 2023 the award was presented to Tom Whipple for his work at The Times, ‘After centuries of cut, burn and poison, could a jab cure cancer?’ of which the judges said: This was a year when immunotherapy dominated the headlines, but in a crowded field this piece really stood out through the vibrancy of its writing and the quality of the journalism. It made use of a range of experts and told the story in an emotive way.

In 2021 Roche sponsored the News Story of the Year – General audience category won by Dean Kirby, Northern Correspondent & Cahal Milmo, Chief Reporter of the i newspaper for their piece PPE Chaos Revealed.

Hear from Dean and Cahal on their win in the MJA Awards 2021.

In 2020 Roche sponsored the MJA Awards in the News Story of the Year – Broadcast category.

The award for News Story of the Year – Broadcast 2020 was won by a team from the BBC: Rachael Buchanan (producer/director), Fergus Walsh (correspondent), Julius Peacock (cameraman and editor), Tony Fallshaw (cameraman), Joanne McDonald (graphics)

In 2019 Roche sponsored News Story of the Year – General Audience, and the Award was won by Helen McArdle, Herald & Times Group Newspapers. Helen was not able to get to London for the ceremony — she was literally stopped in her tracks after a tree fell into overhead cables near Carlisle, forcing her to turn back — but she did share the celebrations with a fizzing photo on social media.

Helen McArdle winner News Story of the Year – General Audience 2019

Roche sponsored the Science Explained award at the 2017 MJA Awards. The award went to Linda Geddes for The complex circumstances that defined your gender,  published on BBC Future. 

Kat Arney and Jacqui Thornton were both highly commended. Kat for The viruses that made us human for BBC Focus Magazine and Jacqui for When the miracle of childbirth turns to life and death published by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Roche has supported the MJA Awards for more than a decade. Chris Saunders, Corporate Communications Lead, said: “We are proud to have supported the MJA Awards over the years. Journalists play a vital role in ensuring that our national conversation about healthcare is balanced, informative and human. In a world where facts and context can sometimes be lost amongst the noise, journalistic excellence is more important than ever before.”

At Roche UK, we focus our energy and investment in developing tests and treatments that change lives and give us more quality time with the people we love. And, together with others, we’re solving healthcare’s greatest challenges; helping to achieve better results by connecting early diagnosis to targeted treatment and ongoing support. 

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The Roche UK Corporate Communications team can be contacted on 01707 367807 or