Recently funded awards

Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellowships

Sean Lim, University of Southampton
Exploiting the innate and adaptive immune interface for effective cancer therapy

Simon Buczacki, University of Cambridge
Contextual clonogenicity in differentiated colorectal cancer cells: understanding the ‘reserve’ cancer stem cell

David Church, University of Oxford
Mechanisms and consequences of hyper/ultramutation in colorectal and endometrial cancer

Paolo Gallipoli, University of Cambridge
Identification and characterisation of metabolic pathways as determinants of drug resistance in acute myeloid leukaemia

Clinician Scientist Fellowships

Thomas Mitchell, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Understanding the multi-cellular microenvironment of renal cell carcinoma

David O’Connor, University College London
Identifying the genetic and functional drivers of chemoresistant T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Amit Roshan, University of Cambridge
Molecular risk stratification of early stage melanoma by identifying early genetic events and ultra-sensitive detection of circulating tumour DNA

Simon Richardson, University of Cambridge
Characterisation of altered epigenetic cell states following loss of CREBBP function and their role in the induction and treatment of ALL

Pre-doctoral Research Bursaries

Mareike Thompson, University of Cambridge
Analysis of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in patients with glioblastoma leveraging samples collected in the PARADIGM trial

Rachael Pocock, UCL Cancer Institute
Examining the role of Reptin and its interaction with the transcription factor MYB as a driver of leukaemogenesis in T-ALL

Edward Poynton, Queen Mary, University of London
Investigating circulating tumour DNA as a multi-purpose surveillance tool in follicular lymphoma

Akshay Patel, University of Birmingham
Is B cell Immune phenotype predictive of outcome and toxicity with combination checkpoint blockade in Non-small cell lung cancer patients?

Samuel Withey, King's College London 
Utilising a radiogenomics approach for predicting therapy response in patients with primary oesophageal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant therapy

CRUK/Pathological Society Pre-doctoral Research Bursaries

Lorelle Brownlee, University College London
Tumour evolution in neuroendocrine lung cancers

Sophie Prendergast, University College London
Genomic profiling of adamantinoma

Hannah Crane, University of Sheffield
Exploring chemotherapy resistance in HPV-positive and HPVnegative Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC)

Dr Vinaya Srirangam Nadhamuni, Queen Mary, University of London 
Growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenomas: The link between AIP mutations and resistance to treatment with somatostatin analogues

Postdoctoral Research Bursaries

Kezia Gaitskell, University of Oxford
The molecular pathological epidemiology of ovarian cancer in the million women study: a pilot study

Kate Marks, University of Leeds
Understanding the rate limiting events that determine the fixation and spread of somatic mutations in normal and diseased bowel mucosa and how they lead to colorectal cancer

Elaine Leung, University of Glasgow 
Deciphering the role of the CCR7/CCL21 chemokine axis in ovarian cancer

Saif Ahmad, University of Cambridge
Deciphering the role of androgen receptor mediated upregulation of DNA repair capacity as a driver of breast cancer radioresistance

Sally George, Institute of Cancer Research
Therapeutic targeting of the DNA damage response pathway in neuroblastoma with alterations in ATRX and alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT)

Rasheed Zakaria, University of Liverpool 
BRain dIffusion TEnsor imaging to predict immunotherapy response in METastatic melanoma (BRITEMET)

John Findlay, University of Oxford 
Augmenting clinical decision-making and predicting success of first-line therapies for oesophageal cancer using multi-omics and artificial intelligence

Biomarker Project Awards

Dr Sudha Sundar and Dr James Brenton, University of Birmingham
ROCKETS-GEN: Earlier detection of ovarian cancer using novel genomic technology

Clinical Trial Awards*

Professor Mererid Evans, Professor Terence Jones and Professor Christian Simon, Cardiff University
PATHOS: Post-operative adjuvant treatment for HPV-positive tumours

Professor Maria Hawkins, University College London
ABC-07: Addition of stereotactic body radiotherapy to systemic chemotherapy in locally advanced biliary tract cancers

Dr Geoff Higgins, University of Oxford
ARCADIAN: Phase I study combining the tumour hypoxia modifier atovaquone with radical chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced NSCLC

Dr Anthony Kong, University of Birmingham
TWEET: A randomised phase II Trial of WEE1 inhibitor (AZD1775) with Taxane chemotherapy (paclitaxel) versus paclitaxel in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Dr Adam Mead, University of Birmingham
PROMise: Investigation into the combination of a Plexxikon BETi with ruxolitinib in patients with high or intermediate-2 risk myelofibrosis not receiving an adequate response with ruxolitinib alone

Dr John Moppett, University College London
ALLTogether-1: A Treatment study protocol of the ALLTogether Consortium for children and young adults (1-45 years of age) with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)

Professor Carlo Palmieri and Dr Anthony Kong, University of Birmingham
RADIANT-BC: A multi-cohort Phase Ib/expansion cohort study of the efficacy and safety of radiosurgery with durvalumab followed by durvalumab and standard of care systemic therapy in patients with brain metastases secondary to breast cancer

Endorsements

Professor Gareth Griffiths and Professor Dean Fennell, University of Southampton
IND227: A phase II/III randomised trial of pembrolizumab in patients with advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma

Professor Gareth Griffiths, Professor Robert Huddart and Dr Simon Crabb, University of Southampton
BL13: A randomised phase II trial assessing trimodality therapy with or without adjuvant durvalumab to treat patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Dr David Chang, University of Glasgow
PRIMUS-004: Second line Chemotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

Dr Susana Banerjee and Professor Judith Bliss, Institute of Cancer Research
ATARI: ATr inhibitor in combination with olaparib in gynaecological cancers with ARId1A loss or no loss

Extension

Professor Robert Hills and Professor Nigel Russell, Cardiff University
AML18: A trial for older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia and high risk myelodysplastic syndrome

Renewal

Professor Gary Middleton, University of Birmingham
LungMatrix: Multi-drug, genetic marker-directed, non-comparative, multi-centre, multi-arm phase II trial in non-small cell lung cancer

Prospective Sample Collection Awards

Dr Marcia Hall, University of Glasgow
TRANS CeNtuRIOn

Clinical Trial Fellowships

Dr John Apps, Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit

Dr Alexandra Gilbert, Cancer Research UK Clinical Trial Unit Birmingham

Dr Magdalena Meissner, Wales Cancer Trials Unit

*This list includes grants awarded under our Early Phase and Feasibility Study Awards and Late Phase Clinical Trial Awards, which were replaced in 2018 with the single Clinical Trial Awards scheme

Early Detection Programme Awards

George Hanna, Imperial College London

Augmented Response of vOlatile bioMarkers to detect oesophagogastric Adenocarcinoma (AROMA)

Early Detection Project Awards

Clare Rebbeck and Gregory Hannon, University of Cambridge

Using a “Timeline of DCIS progression” to create an improved clinical assay for breast cancer risk 

Francesca Palombo, Nick Stone and Oliver Old, University of Exeter

Development of advanced optical tools for early detection and diagnosis of oesophageal cancer with high mechanical and chemical specificity 

Maria Kyrgiou and Zoltan Takats, Imperial College London

High-throughput laser-assisted Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (Laser-REIMS) in the early detection and diagnosis of cervical pre-invasive disease

Early Detection Primer Awards

Charlene Greenwood, University of Keele

Prostate Cancer: High Accuracy Early Diagnosis based on Tissue Microenvironments

Adam Creamer and Leah Frenette, Imperial College London

Magnetic, Fluorescent Nanoparticles for the Isolation of Blood Biomarkers in the Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer

Lesely Smith and Richard Neal, University of Leeds

Development of a myeloma case-finding approach for higher-risk patients: analysis of routine blood tests

Jason Webber, Swansea University

Extracellular Vesicle Glycoproteins for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis (EVGlyProD)

David Westhead, University of Leeds

Prediction of Early Progression in Follicular Lymphoma

Oluwafunmilola Ola and Frankie Rawson, University of Nottingham

Point-of-care-Based Electrochemical Sensing for Human Papillomavirus Detection

Jamie Blundell, University of Cambridge

Exploiting the Immune System for Early Cancer Detection

Richard Mair and Rohitashwa Sinha, University of Cambridge

Early Detection with Urine and Cognitive Assessment Multiplex (The EDUCAM study)

Marc Moncrieff, Stuart Rushworth, Mona Saad, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust

Feasibility study investigating circulating peripheral mitochondrial DNA as a potential non-invasive biomarker for diagnosis and surveillance of high risk cutaneous melanoma

Christopher Toseland, University of Sheffield

Single molecule mass photometry for the early detection of cancer

Sourav Banerjee, University of Dundee

Secreted phosphoproteome in blood as early detection and risk stratification biomarkers of glioma

CRUK-PCUK-EPSRC Innovation Awards 

Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer

Team PANC-CYS-GAN led by Ardhendu Behera, Edge Hill University
PANC-CYS-GAN: A Multimodal Longitudinal Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to Discriminate High-risk Cysts for the Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer

Team EDPan led by Maria del Pilar Acedo Nunez, University College London
EDPan Screening tool - Earlier detection of pancreatic cancer through personalised assessment of risk combined with non-invasive infrared spectroscopy

Team ReTHOMS led by Paolo Bertoncello, Swansea University
ReTHOMS: Real-time High-sensitivity Optrode Metabolic Sensor for Pancreatic Cyst Fluids

Team PaNanoMRI led by Manil Chouhan, University College London
PaNanoMRI - Early detection of pre-malignant pancreatic cancer using multifunctional targeted nanoparticles for MR imaging with super-resolution reconstruction and MR fingerprinting

Team EXPAND led by Piers Boshier, Imperial College London
Enriched eXosomal signatures for PANcreatic cancer early Detection (EXPAND)

Career Development Fellowship

Dr Charles Massie, University of Cambridge
Early events in prostate cancer: causes, consequences and opportunities for precision medicine in early prostate cancers

Dr Alexis Barr, Imperial College London
Understanding proliferation-quiescence decisions in response to DNA damage

Dr Emma Kerr, Queen’s University Belfast
Defining metabolic mechanisms of drug resistance in colorectal cancer

Dr Kasper Rasmussen, University of Dundee
Aberrant DNA methylation and its impact in blood cancer development

Dr Raheleh Rahbari, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Pathogenic variants and clonal dynamics in normal and cancerous testes and their role in cancer predisposition

Career Establishment Award

Dr Helen Coleman, Queen’s University Belfast
Epidemiology and molecular pathology epidemiology of Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma in the modern treatment era

Dr Alan Serrels, University of Edinburgh
Defining the mechanisms of FAK-dependent immune evasion in Pancreatic Cancer

Dr Kendle Maslowski, University of Birmingham
Mechanisms of attenuated Salmonella cancer therapy–metabolic reprogramming and immune modulation

Senior Cancer Research Fellowship

Dr Adam Mead, University of Oxford
Unravelling cancer stem cell heterogeneity in myeloproliferative neoplasms

Dr Ferdia Gallagher, University of Cambridge
Hyperpolarised carbon-13 MRI for metabolic imaging of renal cell carcinoma

Programme Grants

November 2020

Renewal

Antonis Antoniou, University of Cambridge
CanRisk: Personalising cancer risk prediction for prevention and early detection

Project Grants

November 2020

Blánaid Hicks, Queen's University Belfast
Psychotropic medications and Glioma: an international pharmacoepidemiological study

Katie Robb, University of Glasgow
Improving access to cancer screening among people with intellectual disabilities: development of a complex interaction

Gemma Taylor, University of Bath
Integrating online smoking cessation treatment as part of NHS routine psychological care for people with common mental health problems: a randomised feasibility and pilot study

Jack Cuzick, Queen Mary, University of London
A Comparison of cervico-vaginal self-samples and clinician taken routine cervical screening samples in terms of HPV positivity rate, referral rates after triage and CIN2+ detection rates using current and novel triage strategies - Predictors 5.2

Konstantinos Tsilidis, Imperial College London
Investigating mechanistic pathways linking adiposity to colorectal cancer

David Muller, Imperial College London
In-depth investigation of the role of inflammation and the immune system in renal cancer incidence and survival

May 2021

Paul Pharoah, University of Cambridge
Rare germline genetic variation in the coding and non-coding genome and susceptibility to ovarian cancer

Hannah Sallis, University of Bristol
Smoking behaviours and transitions to vaping in early adulthood: Investigating predictors with longitudinal data

Population Research Postdoctoral Fellowship

Brian Nicholson, University of Oxford
Developing a decision rule using existing blood test data to select primary care patients with non-specific symptoms for urgent cancer investigation

Haiyan Zheng, University of Cambridge
IDENT: Improving Design and analysis of oncology trials Evaluating New targeted Therapies

Kaitlin Wade, University of Bristol
Applying human genetics to interrogate the role of the human gut microbiome in cancer aetiology

​​Programme Awards

Christian Siebold, University of Oxford
Molecular Mechanisms of Morphogen Signalling at the Cell Surface

Kamil Kranc, Queen Mary, University of London
Targeting RNA metabolism to expand haematopoietic stem cells and eredicate acute myeloid leukaemia

Jeffery Pollard, University of Edinburgh
Systemic and local influences of cancer on myeloid cell biology promote tumor malignancy

Shonit Punwani, University College London
Novel microstructural (VERDICT and T2 mapping) and metabolic (hyperpolarised 13C-Pyruvate) MR in diagnosis, risk-stratification and treatment response assessment of prostate cancer

Juan Pedro Martinez-Barbera, Institute of Child Health and University College London
Characterisation of the pro-tumourigenic activities of cellular senescence in adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma and preclinical validation of novel therapies

Stephen Royle, University of Warwick
Mitotic spindle stability and chromosome missegregation in cancer

Simon Robinson, The Institute of Cancer Research
Advancing MRI Biomarkers of the Tumour Microenvironment for Patient Benefit

Renewals

Bart Vanhaesebroeck, University College London
PI3Kalpha and PI3Kdelta in cancer biology and therapy

Kim Nasmyth, University of Oxford
How does cohesin regulate transcription in mammalian cells and how does this go awry in tumour cells?

Frances Balkwill, Queen Mary University of London
Targeting the innate immune system in high grade serous ovarian cancer

Jessica Downs, The Institute of Cancer Research
Investigating the contribution of chromatin dynamics to DNA damage responses and genome stability

Keith Caldecott, University of Sussex
A Novel Role for PARP Activity During Normal S phase and its Impact on Genome Stability and Cancer

Ian Tomlinson, University of Birmingham
Using predisposition genes to understand and prevent colorectal cancer

Philip Jones, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Reshaping the mutational landscape in oesophageal squamous pre-cancer

Henning Walczak, University College London
Understanding the tumour-supportive functions of endogenous TRAIL and LUBAC in the context of cancer immunotherapy

Programme Foundation Awards

Cristina Lo Celso, Imperial College London
Understanding the competition between healthy and malignant haematopoiesis within the bone marrow microenvironment: from mechanisms to targets

Simon Mendez-Ferrer, University of Cambridge
Microenvironmental metabolic regulation in myeloid malignancies

Christian Frezza, University of Cambridge
The role of Fumarate Hydratase loss and fumarate accumulation in the predisposition to renal cancer

Multidisciplinary Project Awards

Mieke Van Hemelrijck and Anthony Coolen, King’s College London
New quantitative tools for precision medicine: overfitting correction in multivariate Cox analysis

Paul Beard and Brian Davidson, University College London
Photoacoustic-guided minimally invasive treatment of liver cancer

David Klenerman and Kevin Brindle, University of Cambridge
New biophysical tools to elucidate the role of P53 aggregates in cancer biology

Andrew Povey, University of Manchester, Perdita Elizabeth Barran (Manchester), David Mark Williams, University of Sheffield, Nicholas H Williams (Sheffield), Geoffrey Paul Margison (Manchester)
Identification and nucleotide resolution mapping of alkyl adducts in human DNA

Cancer Immunology Project Awards

Mala Maini, University College London
Overcoming metabolic checkpoints for T cell immunotherapy of liver cancer

Lucy Walker, University College London
Identifying autoimmune signatures in patients receiving checkpoint immunotherapy

Michelle Bombardieri and Hemant Kocher, Queen Mary University of London
Anti-tumour specificity and functionality of monoclonal antibodies derived from single lesional B cells from ectopic germinal centres in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Cecilia Johansson, Imperial College London
Cancer and viral infections in the lung - a delicate balance of microenvironments

Cancer Research UK–Children with Cancer UK Innovation Award

Richard Houlston, The Institute of Cancer Research. In collaboration with Louis Chesler
Deciphering inherited susceptibility to childhood cancer (Wilms, sarcoma, brain, NB)

Christine Harrison, Newcastle University. In collaboration with Jonathan Higgins and Steve Clifford
Aneuploidy is a driver of childhood cancer and a target for novel therapies (Brain, leukaemia)

Anindita Roy, The University of Oxford. In collaboration with Tassos Karadimitris, Imperial and Thomas Milne, Oxford
Developing novel targeted immunotherapy for infant and childhood MLL-rearranged ALL

Mare Mansour, University College London. In collaboration with David O'Connor and Jack Bartram, UCL/Great Ormond Street Hospital
Relapse-specific therapeutic vulnerability evaluation in childhood and young adult ALL (REVEALL)

Sam Behjati, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In collaboration with Janet Shipley, ICR and Karin Straathof, UCL
Rhabdomyosarcoma at presentation and relapse — identifying foetal developmental targets