Allan Hackshaw is Professor of Epidemiology & Medical Statistics at University College London. He started at the Cancer Trials Centre in 2003 as Deputy Director and became Director in 2021. Previously he was one of the senior academics at the Wolfson Institute of Environmental & Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London. He has >30 years’ experience in the design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of clinical studies and systematic reviews, in a variety of disease areas including cancer treatments and diagnosis, adult and prenatal screening, and tobacco and health. This has included phase I-III clinical trials, major cohort/case-control studies, and large real-world data studies including the seminal genomics study in lung cancer TRAcking non-small cell lung Cancer Evolution through therapy (Rx). He has worked across all tumour and intervention types at the Trials Centre, been a key co-investigator on successful grant funding applications (>£138 million in total), published more than 200 journal articles and book chapters, and sole or first author of five textbooks.* He leads modules on evidence-based medicine and clinical trials for postgraduate courses at UCL and the London School of Economics. He is joint editor of the Journal of Medical Screening, and sits on the UK National Screening Committee (Adult Reference Group) and several grant funding review panels for the EU Commission (Horizon 2020 and EU4 Health programmes).

* including ‘Fast Facts: clinical trials in oncology’ by Karger 2020, and ‘A Concise Guide to Clinical Trials’, ‘A Concise Guide to Observational Studies’ and ‘How to write a grant application’ by Wiley/Blackwells.

Dr Mark Linch is an Associate Professor at University College London (UCL) Cancer Institute, where he leads the Urological Cancer Biology Group, and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist. Dr Linch trained in medical oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital (RMH), London. In 2012 he was awarded a PhD in Cancer Cell Biology from UCL and the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (LRI), now known as the Francis Crick Institute. He continued his post-doctoral studies at the LRI while also working as a Consultant Medical Oncologist at RMH. In 2014 Dr Linch moved to UCL to specialise in the clinical management and translational biology of prostate and bladder cancer. His research is focused on the immune biology of these cancers with a view to identifying rational immunotherapy combinations, predictive biomarkers and novel liquid biopsy strategies. He is chief investigator of a number national and international combination immunotherapy trials in bladder and prostate cancer (DURANCE, NEPTUNES, Pro-MERIT), is Chair of the UK Prostate Cancer 100,000 genome project group and is an inaugural member of the UK Bladder Cancer Translational Group. He is funded by the NIHR/BRC, CRUK, Rosetrees Trust, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Prostate Cancer UK and Sir Peter Wood.

Róisín Beehag BSc (Hons) is the Regulatory Manager-Quality at the Cancer Research UK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre (CTC). She started her career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1998 and has had a number of roles in drug development including API manufacturing, drug formulation and analysis. Róisín started working in Quality Assurance (GxP) in 2002 and has established and maintained Quality Management Systems and is a trained GMP, GCP and CSV auditor. Róisín moved into clinical research in 2006 and was a project manager for international clinical trials for a biotech company. She moved to her current role at the CTC in 2009 and is responsible for ensuring CTC trials are conducted in accordance with applicable guidelines and regulations. In 2015 Róisín undertook a 1-year secondment as a Regulatory Manager-Advanced Therapies for UCL Joint Research office where she worked on a diverse portfolio of national and international ATMPs. Róisín is a member of the MHRA GCP Non-Commercial Laboratories Group and has developed UKCRC guidance on CTU oversight of laboratories. She is also a member of the RQA.

Shibani Nicum is an Associate Professor in Medical Oncology and Honorary Consultant Oncologist at University College London. She specialises in the treatment of women with ovarian and other gynaecological cancers and is the Chair of the National Cancer Research Institute Gynaecological Group and Lead for Gynaecological Trials at the Cancer Research UK and UCL Cancer Trials Centre. Her research interests are in BRCA mutated cancers and the development of novel therapies in order to improve and personalise patient care. She is also the Chief Investigator of a number of international and national trials, including the ICON9 and OCTOVA trials.

I have over 15 years of clinical trials experience. I joined the CR UK and UCL Cancer Trials Centre as Trials Group Lead in August 2018. In this role, I oversee a team of approximately 20 staff to manage a portfolio of cancer clinical trials in a wide range of tumour types including upper & lower GI, genitourinary, sarcoma and head & neck (including thyroid) cancers. The majority of trials that I manage are CTIMP trials ranging from early phase IIa to large national phase III trials. I also manage radiotherapy and surgery interventional trials and some observational (non-CTIMP) trials. An important component of my role is to support Chief Investigators to develop grant applications for funding of new projects from national funders such as NIHR, MRC and CR UK, as well as from pharmaceutical companies for Investigator Initiated Studies (IIS). I play a key role in developing the project plan and budget for new grant proposals and then overseeing the execution of the clinical trials.

Previously, I worked at Queen Mary University of London in two departments within the Barts Clinical Trials Unit; The Centre for Experimental Medicine & Rheumatology and the Cancer Prevention Trials Unit. I have therefore been responsible for the management of clinical trials across different disease areas and trial design types.

Dr Dionysis Papadatos-Pastos is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at University College London Hospitals and The Princess Alexandra Hospital. He is a specialist thoracic oncologist, expert in the treatment of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and cancers of the thymus (thymoma and thymic carcinoma). Dr Papadatos-Pastos completed his undergraduate medical training in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, qualifying in 2002. He trained in medical oncology at Guy’s and St Thomas’, St George’s University Hospitals and The Royal Marsden. He has conducted formal research in oncology and completed his PhD thesis on prognostic and predictive biomarkers. He received the ASCO merit award in 2010. He is principal investigator on multiple clinical trials including early phase drug trials, one of the principal investigators for TRACERx (TRAcking non-small cell lung Cancer Evolution through therapy Rx) and a collaborator in the PEACE (Posthumous tissuE donAtion in CancEr) study for which he is a member of the Governance Board.

Laura Farrelly RGN BSc (Hons) MSc Clinical Trials (Distinction) has worked in the clinical trials environment since 1997. In 2015, Laura was appointed as Trials Group Lead in Gynaecological and Lung Oncology at the CRUK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre where she leads a 25+ strong team of Senior Trial Coordinators, Trial Coordinators, Data Managers and Trials Assistants, and takes responsibility for the development and delivery of a portfolio of trials in Gynaecological and Lung cancers. Laura has extensive experience of sitting on National and International committees. She was the UKCRC QA representative for MRC CTU during her time as Clinical Operations Manager, and also a member of the NIHR Portfolio Oversight Group. She has served as the Unit representative for MHRA GCP meetings (StEM – Stakeholder Engagement Meetings) and at EMA Clinical Trial Portal and Union Database Stakeholders Meetings. Laura completed a 2.5 yr appointment as the Chair of the Operational Committee for The European Network for Gynaecological Oncological Trials (ENGOT) in 2020 and is currently vice-chair, as well as remaining the UK representative on the committee for ENGOT and Gynecological Cancer InterGroup (GCIG).

Claire Roddie MD PhD is a Consultant Haematologist at UCLH and Associate Professor in Haematology at UCL with a particular interest in adoptive cell therapies. She completed an Immunotherapy PhD at UCL with Karl Peggs and subsequently undertook a clinician scientist role with Martin Pule to develop the UCL CAR-T program. Claire’s current role involves pre-clinical development of novel cell therapy projects, GMP manufacture and clinical trial design. She is also responsible for the advanced therapies clinical service at UCLH. She is currently leading several clinical trials, including the Phase I CAROUSEL trial on CD19-targeting CAR T-cells for relapsed/refractory primary CNS lymphoma.

Nicky Gower is a Regulatory Manager at the Cancer Research UK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre (CTC), a post held since 2006. She established the CTC’s Regulatory team, whose activities help ensure that the CTC maintains compliance with regulatory requirements governing clinical trials. The team consists of specialist staff in the areas of: pharmacovigilance, monitoring, quality assurance, sponsorship and clinical trial contracts. Nicky has been working in cancer clinical trials at UCL since 1988, initially as a research nurse in the London Lung Cancer Group then, following the formation of the CTC in 1997, in various trial management roles; including leading the CTC lung cancer trials group for over 10 years, before moving into regulatory affairs. Nicky’s current role encompasses activities as a contracts manager; overseeing and reviewing clinical trial contracts. Nationally, Nicky has held several active roles on working groups, committees and stakeholder groups over the years (including for UKCRC, NCRI, CR UK, HRA and MHRA), and regularly contributes to national and international regulatory consultations and reviews. She was an inaugural member of the working group revising the model non-commercial agreement template, working with the HRA until completion of the work in 2018. Nicky was chair of the NCRI Cancer CTUs Operations Leads group until 2015, and is currently deputy chair of the UKCRC CTUs QA operations group.

Dr Shiu is a Consultant in the Gastrointestinal Oncology Unit at University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Associate Professor at the UCL Cancer Institute. He qualified at Guys and St Thomas’ Medical School, training in medical oncology at the Royal Free Hospital and UCLH. He completed his PhD in integrative genomic profiling of cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital. He also attained a post CCT research fellowship at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL.

His clinical research interests include immunotherapy for GI malignancies and Cancer of Unknown Primary. He is Chair of the NCRI MUO-CUP Workstream and a member of the NCRI Colorectal Advanced and Adjuvant Disease Subgroup. He is a collaborator in the PEACE (Posthumous tissuE donAtion in CancEr) study, and a member of the Gastrointestinal Oncology and CUP subgroups at UCL Cancer Institute/Francis Crick Institute. He is the Principal Investigator of the UCL/UCLH Gastrointestinal Cancer Translational Research Biobank.

Paul Kyriakides Joined the CRUK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre in 2006 as the IT Network Manager, managing the internal IT infrastructure and IT Network, supporting over 120 staff. With over 20 years of IT experience, he has led the transition from aging IT systems to a modern, virtualisation-based hybrid cloud environment, ensuring the smooth and continuous running of the internal clinical trial IT systems. Paul successfully completed Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification in 2000 and ITIL v3 certification in 2012 and has previously worked in various IT management roles ranging from health informatics, education and medical research.

Dr Townsend is a consultant haematologist specialising in lymphoma at University College London Hospitals where he leads a programme of early phase clinical trials in lymphoproliferative disorders. He is an active member of the national low grade, and high grade lymphoma NCRN sub groups and is national Chief Investigator for 3 ongoing early phase clinical trials. He was an author on the BSH Follicular Lymphoma national guidelines 2020 and Hodgkin Lymphoma guideline 2021. He has research interests in the lymphoma microenvironment and outcomes of patients with haematological malignancies on ICU.

Louise Rusha has worked at the CRUK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre since 2010, managing the day-to-day running of the centre, HR, communications and providing support for its 120+ staff. Louise has over 20 years of administration, project management and communications experience and has previously worked in various events and project management roles.

Karin Straathof (Associate Professor in tumour immunology and consultant paediatric oncologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital) specialises in the development and clinical translation of CAR T cell therapies for childhood cancer. She leads the clinical trial work package in the NexTGen Cancer Grand Challenge team and is co-lead of the paediatric cancer theme in the CRUK City of London Centre. Her research program includes CAR target identification and tumour microenvironment interrogation which inform the design of next generation engineered T cells for childhood solid tumours.

Bio to follow

Linda is an associate at the Cancer Trials Centre, PPI Manager for the Blood and Transplant Research Unit (BTRU) in Data Driven Transfusion Practice and delivers PPI trainings for the UCLH Biomedical Research Centre. Linda previously worked as PPI Lead at the BTRU in Stem Cells and Immunotherapies and at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.