Our research in Oxford
Cancer Research UK funds some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research in Oxford. A major new initiative is the Cancer Research UK - MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, which opened on the site of the Churchill Hospital in 2008. This brings together world-class scientists and doctors to transform the future of radiotherapy treatment for people with cancer.
We also fund the clinical trials work of the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The group co-ordinates the care of virtually all the UK’s children with cancer, ensuring they receive the most up-to-date treatments.
Below are some of the highlights of our research in Oxford.
All cancer types
Prof Adrian Harris
Cancer Research UK Medical Oncology Department
Churchill Hospital, Oxford
Targeting a cancer's blood supply
All cancers need to develop their own blood supply in order to keep growing. Professor Adrian Harris' research group based at the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine is studying this process of new blood vessel growth, called angiogenesis, in great detail.
Prof Bass Hassan
Department of Medical Oncology
Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford
Blocking growth signals to beat cancer
Professor Bass Hassan at The Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine is investigating the faulty signals that drive cancer cell growth. He is also developing new cancer treatments that aim to block the action of these key growth signals.
Prof Yvonne Jones
Division of Structural Biology
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford
Studying the shape and structure of proteins
Professor Yvonne Jones is a leading expert in the field of 'structural biology' - studying the shape of molecules. She directs our Receptor Structure Research Group in Oxford, which is investigating proteins on the surface of cells that play key roles in cancer. This information will help researchers to develop new cancer drugs that target these proteins.
Prof Gillies McKenna
Radiation Oncology and Biology
University of Oxford, Oxford
Improving radiotherapy treatment
Professor Gillies McKenna is a world expert in radiotherapy research. In 2006, he was recruited to the UK from the US to lead the Cancer Research UK - MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology in Oxford. His research focuses on understanding the effect that radiation has on cells and how cancers can become resistant to radiotherapy. This knowledge will contribute to the improvement of radiotherapy techniques so that more people are successfully treated and experience a better quality of life.
Prof Kim Nasmyth
Department of Biochemistry
University of Oxford, Oxford
Lord of the rings - studying chromosomes and cancer
Professor Kim Nasmyth heads the Biochemistry Department at the University of Oxford, and has won many prestigious scientific awards in his career. He is a world-leading expert in chromosomes - the packages of DNA found within our cells - and the proteins that control them.
Bowel cancer
Dr Joan Austoker
Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group
Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford
Education, informed choice and patient experience in cancer screening and early diagnosis
Dr Joan Austoker directs the Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group at the University of Oxford. Her team's research is aimed at providing people with evidence-based information to understand more about cancer screening and early diagnosis. Her work involves developing and evaluating patient and primary care educational materials, leaflets and brochures, largely focused on breast, cervical, bowel and prostate cancers.
Prof Ian Tomlinson
Population and Functional Genetics Laboratory
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford
Genes and bowel cancer
Professor Ian Tomlinson is Head of the Population and Functional Genetics Lab at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford. His main research interest is cancer genetics, focusing particularly on the genes involved in bowel cancer.
Breast cancer
Dr Joan Austoker
Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group
Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford
Education, informed choice and patient experience in cancer screening and early diagnosis
Dr Joan Austoker directs the Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group at the University of Oxford. Her team's research is aimed at providing people with evidence-based information to understand more about cancer screening and early diagnosis. Her work involves developing and evaluating patient and primary care educational materials, leaflets and brochures, largely focused on breast, cervical, bowel and prostate cancers.
Prof Valerie Beral
Cancer Epidemiology Unit
University of Oxford, Oxford
What affects a woman's lifetime risk of cancer?
Professor Valerie Beral directs the Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU) in Oxford. Her team is looking at how a woman's lifestyle, including her reproductive and family history, can influence her health and whether she is likely to develop breast cancer.
Cervical cancer
Dr Joan Austoker
Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group
Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford
Education, informed choice and patient experience in cancer screening and early diagnosis
Dr Joan Austoker directs the Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group at the University of Oxford. Her team's research is aimed at providing people with evidence-based information to understand more about cancer screening and early diagnosis. Her work involves developing and evaluating patient and primary care educational materials, leaflets and brochures, largely focused on breast, cervical, bowel and prostate cancers.
Lung cancer
Prof Sir Richard Peto
Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit
University of Oxford, Oxford
Studying smoking and cancer, and improving clinical trials
Eminent cancer researcher Professor Sir Richard Peto is co-director of the Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit in Oxford. He is a leading figure in both the prevention and treatment of cancer, and helped to run a pioneering 50-year long study that further established the links between smoking and cancer.
Prostate cancer
Dr Joan Austoker
Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group
Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford
Education, informed choice and patient experience in cancer screening and early diagnosis
Dr Joan Austoker directs the Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group at the University of Oxford. Her team's research is aimed at providing people with evidence-based information to understand more about cancer screening and early diagnosis. Her work involves developing and evaluating patient and primary care educational materials, leaflets and brochures, largely focused on breast, cervical, bowel and prostate cancers.
Prof Freddie Hamdy
Nuffield Department of Surgery
University of Oxford, Oxford
Investigating prostate cancer treatment and screening
Professor Freddie Hamdy is the Nuffield Professor of Surgery and Professor of Urology at the University of Oxford. He is currently Principal Investigator of a clinical trial to see if prostate cancer screening using the PSA test could decrease the number of deaths from this disease.
Skin cancer
Prof Alan Storey
HPV Apoptosis and Cancer Group
Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford
HPV infection and non-melanoma skin cancer
Professor Alan Storey leads the HPV Apoptosis and Cancer Group at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. His research focuses on non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK. Although NMSC is rarely life-threatening, it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 cases in the UK each year making it a significant public health problem. Professor Storey's team is investigating how human papillomavirus (HPV) infection of the skin can contribute to the development of this disease.
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