Prof Julia Newton-Bishop

Julia Newton-Bishop

Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine,
St James's Hospital/University of Leeds
Leeds

Finding skin cancer genes

Professor Julia Newton-Bishop works in the Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology of the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine. She studies people with family histories of melanoma - the most dangerous form of skin cancer - and has made many significant discoveries.

Her team has found several inheritable faults in a gene called CDKN2A that increase the risk of melanoma and, possibly, pancreatic cancer.

Nature or nurture?

Professor Newton-Bishop's team is also looking at how our lifestyle choices interact with our genes to affect our risk of cancer. The team is studying how sun exposure and melanoma genes jointly affect a person's chances of getting skin cancer.

The researchers are also running a large study to look for more melanoma genes that specifically affect a patient's chances of survival. Another aim of this project is to find out if there are crucial differences between melanomas that start in different areas of the body.

Professor Newton-Bishop and her team of researchers are experts in their field and their work should pave the way for new treatements for melanoma.

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