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THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM AND KING'S COLLEGE LONDON PRESENT
BLADDER
CANCER
TRANSLATIONAL
RESEARCH
MEETING 2023
#BCaMeetingUK23
BLADDER
CANCER
TRANSLATIONAL
RESEARCH
MEETING 2023
The Bladder Cancer Research Centre (University of Birmingham) and the Translational Oncology & Urology Research (TOUR) team (King’s College London and Guy’s Hospital) are organising their 5th Bladder Cancer Translational Research Meeting - a fully interactive bladder cancer clinical research meeting led by an international expert panel of clinicians and scientists in the U.K. The forum is designed to bridge the gap between science and clinical practice and will cover the spectrum of bladder cancer research in oncology, urology, nursing, epidemiology, immuno- and molecular biology.
Despite the substantial disease burden for patients and healthcare providers, bladder cancer only receives 0.6% of cancer research spending. This meeting will thus provide an opportunity to enhance collaborations across the UK and internationally and allow networking opportunities between clinicians and scientists allowing participants to anticipate crucial observations in the clinical practice to inform research activities and vice versa. Marrying these two diverse disciplines will enable healthcare systems to provide more efficient outcome-driven patient-centred interventions in the field of bladder cancer.
Our
Speakers
Roland
Arnold
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Dr Roland Arnold is a bioinformatician (computational biologist) by training and since 2017 a group leader at the Institute for Cancer and Genomic Sciences, Birmingham. Since 2019, he is the theme-lead for bioinformatics and genomics at the Bladder Cancer Research Centre, University of Birmingham.
Roland’s main interest is in genomic events in Bladder Cancer which lead to abnormal behavior of genes, such as wrong splicing of gene-products. He disseminates such events for their potential as biomarkers and for better understanding of cancer biology.
Roland is also interested in biobanking and biological databases since these are key-aspects of his work to investigate cancer samples and is part of the ‘working group on Ethical, Legal issues related to biobank and research activities (‘Realise’)’, a European-wide network to investigate legal aspects of biobanking.
Alison
Birtle
LANCASHIRE TEACHING HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Dr Alison Birtle is currently working as a Consultant Clinical Oncologist for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She undertook her general medical and specialist registrar oncology training at Charing Cross and Westminster Hospitals in London, UK. Her MD Thesis was completed at the Institute of Urology, University College London, and the Academic Urology Unit, Royal Marsden Hospital. She specializes in chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiotherapy of urologic tumors including prostate, testicular, and bladder tumors. She is a member of the NCRI prostate clinical study group and bladder clinical study group and leads on phase II and III studies of systemic therapy in urologic cancers.
Elizabeth
Blackmore
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
Elizabeth Blackmore is a Contracts Team Lead at King’s College London overseeing the contracts for the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine. She manages the contracts for the Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Department of Twins Research, and the Department of Diabetes as well as providing oversight on Consultancy and Service Agreements. Elizabeth has been a researcher and completed her PhD in Archaeological Geophysics at the University of Southampton before changing careers and moving into a research support position and contracts.
Gareth
Bicknell
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Dr Gareth Bicknell is the General Manager at the University of Birmingham’s Human Biomaterials Resource Centre, a research tissue bank licensed by the UK Human Tissue Authority and operating under generic research ethical approval. He oversees a team of 13 ensuring that 2000 diverse samples are handled each month with efficiently, security, confidentiality, and quality assurance.
He was invited by the British Standards Institute in 2016 to contribute to the drafting of ISO 20387, a standard for biobanking, having previously discussed the topic at ESBB meetings. Once the standard had been published, Dr Bicknell was offered the chair of a group advising UKAS on biobank accreditation against the standard.
Dr Bicknell received his PhD from the University of Leicester in 1996. He refocused his career after 8 years of postdoctoral research towards the management of human tissue licences at the Universities of Leicester and Oxford. He also assisted the UK HTA perform its first round of regulatory inspections in 2006/7, gaining valuable insight into the regulatory framework.
Rik
Bryan
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Rik Bryan is a former clinical urologist, and now a full-time bladder cancer research academic. He is the Director of the Bladder Cancer Research Centre (BCRC) in the Institute of Cancer & Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham. The BCRC has particular interests in proteomics & biomarkers, genomics & bioinformatics, novel therapeutics, and clinical research & clinical trials. Rik is also the Chief Investigator of the Bladder Cancer Prognosis Programme (BCPP), the SELENIB clinical trial, and POUT-T.
Jim
Catto
UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
Jim is currently NIHR Research Professor, Professor of Urological Surgery at the University of Sheffield, holds honorary posts at the University of Oxford and UCLH and is Editor in Chief of European Urology (2020 Impact factor: 18.7). He has authored over 350 articles, has over 18,000 Scopus citations, an H-index of 72 and has raised over £26M in funding (including NIHR, MRC, The Wellcome Trust, CRUK and The European Union).
Ananya
Choudhury
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Ananya is Professor and Honorary Consultant in Clinical Oncology at The University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Trust, UK. As clinical lead for advanced radiotherapy and Group Leader of Translational Radiobiology, she oversees a programme of research in personalised radiotherapy focusing on bladder and prostate cancer. She holds national leadership roles within the Royal College of Radiologists, the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad), the NCRI Bladder Clinical Studies Group and the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Professor Choudhury is currently the Editor in Chief of BMJ Oncology.
Valentina
Colcelli
UNIVERSITY OF PERUGIA & NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (ITALY)
Valentina Colcelli (PhD) is a Senior Researcher at Italian National Research Council (CNR). Her main research interests focus on the interaction of domestic and European law in shaping rights and interests and market regulation. She also has a research interest in a general reflection on personal and non-personal data beyond the EU legal system, internal market regulation, Technology Transfer, legal and ethical issues in research and innovation activities, and adequate judicial protection of biodiversity in light of fundamental rights. She published books concerning EU integration and more than 80 papers. She is a member of several projects funded by the EU and long-lasting international research cooperation, like the H2020. Among them, in the project Pro-Cancer-I (H2020) she studies legal and ethical aspects addressed on the image biobanks and the application of the system of AI to develop imaging biomarkers. In whole projects, she is involved in the WPS devoted to the definition of the privacy policy of the biobanks, prior consent information definition and drafting Material Transfer Agreement. She is co-chair of the Working Group “Regulatory, Ethics, and GDPR” for the Scientific Association “European, Middle East & African for Biopreservation and Biobanking" (ESBB) and a member of the ESBB Council. She is Visiting External examiner at the University of Malta and an external professor at the University of Perugia. She is co-chair of the Working Group “Regulatory, Ethics, and GDPR” for the Scientific Association “European, Middle East & African for Biopreservation and Biobanking" (ESBB) and member of the ESBB Council.
Simon
Crabb
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
Simon Crabb is a Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics at the University of Southampton and an honorary consultant medical oncologist for genitourinary cancers at University Hospital Southampton. His research interests are focused on the development of novel therapeutic strategies for bladder and prostate cancers. Prof Crabb is the Associate Clinical Director of Southampton Clinical Trials Unit, Deputy Director of the Southampton Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and a lead for early phase clinical trials in Southampton. He is chair of the Genomics England Clinical Interpretation Partnership for bladder cancer, and a past member of the NCRI Bladder and Renal Group, the NCRI Prostate Group and the Experimental Medicine Expert Review Panel for Cancer Research UK.
Lars
Dyrskjot
AARHUS UNIVERSITY, DENMARK
Lars Dyrskjot has a background in molecular biology and is a professor of molecular medicine at Aarhus University. His research group focus on translational bladder cancer research with emphasis on: 1) Identification and validation of biomarker models for predicting outcome and treatment response in early and late stage bladder cancer (BCG, chemotherapy and immunotherapy), 2) Liquid biopsy analysis and method development for monitoring early relapse and therapy response, and 3) Understanding disease biology, tumor subtypes and tumor evolution.
Deborah
Enting
GUY'S & ST. THOMASS' NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Deborah Enting is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and specialises in urological malignancies and has a particular interest in bladder cancer. She completed her undergraduate training at The University of Groningen in The Netherlands before moving to the UK for specialist training in Oncology at Guy’s Hospital. As an academic trainee she completed a PhD with Prof Adrian Hayday at King’s College London in tumour immune surveillance. She is a principal investigator on a number bladder cancer clinical trials and has been instrumental in the setup of the King’s Health Partners Bladder Cancer Biobank. Her academic interest focuses on lymphoid stress-surveillance by gamma delta T cell and NK cells in the context of bladder cancer.
Louis
Fox
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
Dr Louis Fox is a research associate in the Translational Oncology and Urology Research (TOUR) group at King’s College London. Dr Fox’s background primarily is in psychology and his work is centred on the development and validation of patient-reported outcome measures for measuring health-related quality of life in cancer patients. He has also been involved in the development of behavioural interventions for physical activity in prostate cancer patients; and more recently, global health-oriented work examining the impacts of COVID-19 on global cancer control and strategies for cancer research in low- and middle-income countries in the post-COVID context.
Louise
Fullwood
PINSENT MASONS LLP
Louise Fullwood is a healthcare lawyer at international law firm Pinsent Masons. Her practice includes advising universities, hospital trusts, research institutions, pharmaceutical and medical devices companies and investors. She also co-leads a work package for the IMI funded PIONEER Project on using big data to improve prostate cancer outcomes.
Nick
James
INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH (ICR)
Professor James is Professor of Prostate and Bladder Cancer Research at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London. He was previously Professor of Clinical Oncology in Birmingham until 2019. He is also an NIHR Senior Investigator and Deputy Dean of The Institute of Cancer Research.
His research is focussed on advanced prostate cancer and on bladder preservation in locally advanced disease. Prof. James is Chief Investigator on the ground-breaking STAMPEDE trial, which has been used to evaluate, to date, 10 different therapies for advanced prostate cancer in more than 11,000 men. The trial has shown that big survival gains can be made by using existing treatments in novel settings.
In the bladder cancer field, Prof James has led a series of trials of chemoradiotherapy that demonstrated that low dose synchronous chemotherapy reduced invasive bladder cancer relapse rates by 43%, defining chemoradiotherapy as the standard of care for bladder preservation.
Outside the clinical and research spheres, Prof James is a closely engaged with patient education initiatives. This is best exemplified by a series of music concerts, in collaboration with the world-famous saxophonist Courtney Pine, entitled “It's a Man Thing”. He also co-founded the leading website CancerHelp UK in 1994. In 2002 it became the main patient resource on the Cancer Research UK website.
Monica
Jefford
USE MY DATA
Monica Jefford is a patient representative whose Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) portfolio was instigated by her cancer diagnosis. Over 16 years this has evolved to include an involvement with the: NCRI, NHS E Bowel Screening Partnership Board, BCUK, NIHR RDS, CRN South London, a HRA REC, various TMGs and several patient and strategic groups at the Royal Marsden Hospital. As an ex-healthcare professional, patients and their care are not new concepts to her. She advocates the amplification of the patient voice in healthcare and clinical research.
Rob
Jones
UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
Rob Jones is Professor of Clinical Cancer Research at the University of Glasgow and a Consultant at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. His background includes a molecular biology PhD at the CRUK Beatson Institute and time spent working in Pharmaceutical Research and Development. His clinical practice is the medical management of cancers of the prostate, bladder and kidney. His research commitments include the management of a large portfolio of phase I, II and III trials as well as collaborative translational research with scientists from the Beatson Institute and elsewhere. He is the Chief Investigator of the PLUTO and ATLANTIS trials in urothelial cancer and the SAPROCAN and MAdCaP trials in prostate. He is director of the CR-UK Clinical Trials Unit in Glasgow, and head of the Cancer Clinical Trials Unit for Scotland collaboration (CaCTUS). He is Vice Chair of the UK NCRI Bladder and Kidney Cancer Group, and recently demitted the chairs of the advanced disease subgroup of the Prostate Group.
Rosie
Pearson
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
Rosie Pearson is a qualified solicitor with over four years experience of advising higher education institutions on data protection regulation and compliance. She has a particular interest in the compliant use of data within research collaborations and has advised King’s College London as part of the Contracts Team for the past three years, with a focus on health research and industry-funded projects. Rosie has developed and delivered regular training on the regulation of data in the UK and international transfers as a varied and ever-changing area of practice. In addition, Rosie has a background in research ethics, governance and integrity which has helped her to develop a broad appreciation for the academic research context when drafting and negotiating contracts.
Mieke
Van Hemelrijck
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
Mieke Van Hemelrijck leads the Translational Oncology and Urology Research (TOUR) Team in the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences at King's. She became a Professor in Cancer Epidemiology in November 2020. She joined the Group in August 2008 from Harvard School of Public Health to study for her PhD on 'Metabolic Syndrome and Prostate Cancer: Biomarkers and Treatment Side-effects', which she completed in November 2010. At Harvard, her Master's thesis focused on bladder cancer and smoking patterns, building on her Master's in Statistical Data-Analysis received from Ghent University in her home country of Belgium in 2006.
Mieke has an interest in clinical epidemiology of urological cancers. Since 2012, she has coordinated the King’s Health Partners' Uro-Oncology Programme, which brings together all researchers and clinicians involved in urological cancer research at KHP. In 2013, she became a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, funded by a Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research Fellowship.
In the context of bladder cancer, Prof Van Hemelrijck is leading the update and validation of the Quality of Life Module for bladder cancer in collaboration with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer.
Anna
Wilkins
INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH (ICR)
Anna’s research combines human translational science with pre-clinical models to investigate how different features of the tumour microenvironment, including non-cancerous cells, might help prostate and bladder tumours survive after radiotherapy.
Anna completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate medical studies at the University of Cambridge in 2001, before travelling to Myanmar to work on a large scale HIV/AIDS project. On her return to London in 2008, she underwent specialist clinical oncology training and in 2013 was awarded a Cancer Research UK Clinical Research Training Fellowship at the ICR. While studying for her PhD, Anna led a number of projects, based on the CHHiP trial in prostate cancer, to develop predictive models for the efficacy and toxicity of hypofractionated radiotherapy. In 2019, Anna was awarded a Crick Postdoctoral Clinical Fellowship to pursue her research in Dr Erik Sahai’s laboratory. She continues to study the impact of radiotherapy on different aspects of the tumour microenvironment with a particular interest in the role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in this context.
Sponsors
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The
Venue
FRY SUITE - EDGBASTON PARK HOTEL
FULL ADDRESS:
Edgbaston Park Hotel & Conference Centre
53 Edgbaston Park Road
Birmingham
B15 2RS
