Sheffield Pioneers Fund Research Reviewers content
Yorkshire Cancer Research commissions the independent organisation, Worldwide Cancer Research (WCR), to conduct the peer review of applications submitted to the Sheffield Pioneers Fund. The WCR Research Review Committee, composed of expert reviewers, provides impartial and informed recommendations to determine funding decisions. The review process used for this fund is based on the Association for Medical Research Charities (AMRC) approved research funding review process used by WCR.
Dr David Lewis - Molecular Imaging CRUK Scotland Institute Glasgow
Dr David Lewis, Chair of the Research Review Committee, is a leading expert in medical imaging and the spatial and temporal dynamics of cancer metabolism. He co-directs the MRC Scotland Total-Body PET Facility, a national imaging platform shared by the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Additionally, he heads the Translational Molecular Imaging Facility and the Molecular Imaging Research Group at the CRUK Scotland Institute. His research employs advanced imaging, metabolomics, and genomics to investigate the drivers and consequences of metabolic heterogeneity in intact tumours, with the aim of developing non-invasive tumour classification methods and enhancing cancer treatment.
Dr Jonine Figueroa - Molecular, Genetic and Population Health, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh
Dr Jonine Figueroa is an internationally recognised expert in breast cancer epidemiology. She is a senior investigator and distinguished scholar in the integrative tumor epidemiology branch at the National Cancer Institute in the USA. She is also affiliated with the University of Edinburgh where she has been a tenured professor and Chair of molecular epidemiology and global cancer prevention.
Dr Cathy Tournier, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester
Dr Cathy Tournier is a Reader in cancer biology whose research focuses on mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. She completed her PhD at the University of Paris XI before doing postdoctoral research in the United States, where she contributed to key discoveries on biological processes controlled by the JNK MAPK pathway using mouse genetics. In 2000, she joined the University of Manchester where she has developed a programme of research to understand the signalling mechanisms underpinning the formation and progression of malignant tumours. She is also involved in teaching and leadership, including roles within the Division of Cancer Sciences.
Dr Christine Dufès - Nanomedicine, Pharmacology, University of Strathclyde
Dr Christine Dufès focuses on tumour-targeted therapeutics for cancer. She is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Nanomedicine and Director of the Postgraduate School at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS). She holds a Doctorate in Pharmacy and a PhD with a European Label, both earned with Distinction and congratulations from the Jury (University of Poitiers, France). After four years as a post-doctoral researcher at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Laboratories in Glasgow, she was appointed as a Lecturer in SIPBS.
Dr Daniel Wiseman - Consultant Haematologist, The Christie Foundation, Manchester
Professor Daniel Wiseman is a Consultant Haematologist at The Christie and a Clinician Scientist at the at the CRUK Manchester Institute/Manchester Cancer Research Centre. He qualified in medicine from the University of Manchester in 2003 and completed general medical, then specialist haematology training at various hospitals in the North West of England, acceding to the Specialist Register in 2012. In 2016 he completed a PhD at the CRUK Manchester Institute, during which he researched the role of isocitrate dehydrogenase mutations in acute myeloid leukaemia. At The Christie he now leads the myelodysplasia service and is Principle Investigator on several MDS and related clinical trials.
Professor Gill Reeves - Epidemiology and Big Data, University of Oxford
Professor Gillian Reeves is the Valerie Beral Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford. She is co-principal investigator of the Million Women Study, a very large UK cohort study of women’s health, and sits on the steering committee for several international collaborations. She trained originally as a statistician and completed a PhD in statistics before becoming interested in epidemiology. Her main research interests are the roles of hormonal and other risk factors in the development of female cancers. She is particularly interested in risk factors and patterns of survival for molecular subtypes of breast cancer.
Professor Adel Samson Cancer medicine and Immunotherapy, University of Leeds
Professor Samson is clinical scientist leading the Translational Immunotherapy Group at the University of Leeds. His research interest focuses on harnessing the immune system to treat solid malignancies, with an interest in hepatocellular carcinomas the most common liver cancer. His research looks to improve treatments and understand the immunological effects of cancer therapies. He has successfully led several early phase clinical trial designed to improve treatment options for hard-to-treat cancers. Professor Samson studied medicine at the University of Leeds followed by an academic clinical fellowship. He established his research lab in 2018 as an principal investigator and was awarded a CRUK Clinical Scientist Fellowship.
Professor Sophia Karagiannis - Immunology, Kings College London
Professor Sophia Karagiannis is a Professor of Translational Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy at Kings College London, with research experience in the USA and UK. She currently heads a cancer antibody discovery team focused on dissecting the crosstalk between patient immune cells and cancer and on the design of novel therapeutic agents for solid tumours such as melanoma, ovarian and breast cancers. She also serves as Chair of the international AllergoOncology consortium, focused on the interface between Th2 immunity, allergies, IgE and cancer, a Working Group of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Dr Lorna McWilliams – Health Psychology, University of Manchester
Dr Lorna McWilliams is a chartered psychologist and Research Fellow in the Division of Psychology & Mental Health at the University of Manchester. After studying at the University of Strathclyde, she completed her PhD at the University of Nottingham. She then spent time in a research lab at the City University of New York and as a behavioural scientist at Food Dudes Health Ltd/Bangor University before moving to Manchester in 2018. Her research applies behavioural science to cancer prevention, early detection, risk communication, and healthcare decision-making. She is a member of the Women in Cancer Network and the UK Society for Behaviour Medicine (Cancer Specialist Interest Group).
Dr Jamie Honeychurch - Targeted therapy; Deputy Programme Director MRes Oncology University of Manchester
Dr Jamie Honeychurch is a Senior lecturer in Cancer Immunology at the University of Manchester. He leads a programme of research developing radiotherapy and immunotherapy combinations for the treatment of cancer, with an emphasis on trying to understand how radiation can enhance anti-tumour immunity. He is Programme Director for the MSc Oncology Research and Academic Lead for Unit 3 (Established and Experimental Therapeutics), MSc Transformative Oncology. He contributes extensively to teaching within the Manchester MBChB programme and lecturers on several MSc programmes. Jamie is Senior PGR Tutor for the Division of Cancer Sciences and sits on the Division Education Committee and PGR Committee. He is also a keen advocate for science communication and public engagement, is a member of the Division Social Responsibility Committee and Mentor for Black in Cancer.
Professor Karl Butterworth - Radiation Oncology and cancer imaging, Queens University Belfast
Professor Butterworth is a Radiation Biologist and Chair of the Advanced Radiotherapy Group at Queen’s University Belfast. His work focusses on preclinical and translational research aiming to develop new approaches to optimise radiotherapy and improve outcomes for cancer patients. His first degree in Biochemistry is from the University of St Andrews and he has a PhD in Cancer Biology from Ulster University.
Dr Claire Perks - Cancer Endocrinology, University of Bristol
Dr Claire Perks is currently an Associate Professor in Tumour Cell Biology at the University of Bristol and leads the Cancer Endocrinology group based at Southmead Hospital. The current research interests of her group are in insulin-like growth factors that are complex fundamental, nutritionally dependent regulators of growth and metabolism and together with insulin, have been increasingly associated with cancers linked to a Western diet and lifestyle. The team seek to understand the molecular processes important for tumour development, including proliferation, survival, migration and invasion.
Professor Eva Petermann - Genomic Stability, DNA replication, University of Birmingham
Eve is a Professor of Genome Stability at the University of Birmingham. Her research focuses on mechanisms of mammalian replication stress and the interactions between DNA replication and the DNA damage response. She trained as a biochemist at the Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany and undertook her PhD in DNA repair in Berlin before moving on to postdoctoral research on replication at the University of Sussex, then at the University of Oxford. She started her own group in Birmingham in 2010 and is also involved in other external engagements including the Editorial Board for the British Journal of Cancer and Cancer Research UK review panels.
Dr Jonathan Krell - Medical Oncology, Imperial College London
Dr Krell is a consultant and Associate Professor at Imperial College London, His clinical interests focus on cancer genetics and hereditary malignancies, particularly involving BRCA gene and other genetic mutations. His team is based at the Ovarian Cancer Action Centre and Cancer Research UK centre at Imperial College, he has a strong translational research element to his work researching prognostic and predictive markers and modeling risk stratification. He qualified in medicine and pharmacology at Leeds University Medical School before taking positions at St James Cook in Leeds, Guys and St Thomas hospital in London before undertaking his training in oncology at Charring Cross and Hammersmith Hospitals.
Professor Claudio Angione, Artificial Intelligence Teeside University
Dr Angione's research group works at the intersection of computer science, mathematics and biology. Research topics include machine/deep learning, biomedical modelling and optimisation, cancer metabolism, systems biology, and genome-scale metabolic modelling.