On 6th July, CRUK RadNet City of London Centre welcomed researchers, staff and external guests to its first ever symposium. A hybrid event combining in person and virtual presentations, Q&A discussion and networking, the symposium offered the opportunity to share knowledge and ideas, call for collaborators and showcase progress made in and out of the lab. 

During the welcome, Dr Simon Boulton, Director and Radiation Biology Lead of CRUK RadNet City of London, Senior Group Leader and Ambassador for Translation at the Francis Crick Institute, launched RadNet’s brand new video which details RadNet’s mission and how it’s reimagining radiation for the benefit of every cancer patient. Watch the video below.

 

Split into two halves, a public and closed session, the symposium’s first half featured our five RadNet themes and public engagement activities. 

Chaired by Dr Simon Boulton, the first topic on radiation resistance featured presentations from Dr Graeme Hewitt, Junior Group Leader at King’s College London and Dr Lucy Brooks, Career Development Fellow at the UCL Cancer Institute.

Watch Dr. Graeme Hewitt’s talk on ‘targeting the DNA damage response in combination with radiotherapy’.

Watch Dr Lucy Brooks’ talk on ‘causes and consequences of differentiation in glioblastoma’. 

The next topic on radiation combinations chaired by Dr Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke, Professor of Angiogenesis and Deputy Director at Barts Cancer Institute, featured a presentation from Dr Rita Pedrosa, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Barts Cancer Institute.

Watch Dr Rita Pedrosa’s talk on ‘targeting radiation– induced vascular endothelial cell dysfunction to modulate response to therapy’.

Chaired by Prof Tony Ng, the third topic on targeting and technology featured a presentation from Dr Rachel Evans, AstraZeneca-King’s College London Fellow.

Watch Dr Rachel Evans’ talk on ‘radiation/IO combinations to target tumour associated macrophages’.

The next topic on outcomes and risk predictions chaired by Prof Gary Royle, Medical Radiation Physics at UCL, featured presentations from Dr Charles-Antoine Collins Fekete, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at UCL and Dr Jamie Dean, Junior Group Leader at UCL.

Watch Dr Charles-Antoine Collins Fekete’s talk on ‘radiomics and deep learning survival prediction in non-small cell lung cancer’.

Watch Dr Jamie Dean’s talk on ‘revealing superior treatment strategies using computational modelling’.

Chaired by Dr Simon Boulton, the fifth topic on clinical translation featured a presentation from Dr Crispin Hiley, Associate Professor UCL & Consultant Clinical Oncologist UCLH.

Watch Dr Crispin Hiley’s talk on ‘opportunities for clinical translation’.

The final session of the open portion of the symposium featured a presentation from Dr Samantha Terry, Senior Lecturer in Radiobiology at King’s College London and Adam Szmul, Research Associate at UCL.

Watch Dr Samantha Terry and Adam Szmul’s talk on ‘public engagement’.

“This was a fantastic event that showcased the breadth of outstanding multidisciplinary research addressing fundamental questions in radiation biology across of City of London,” said Simon Boulton, Director and Radiation Biology Lead of CRUK RadNet City of London, Senior Group Leader and Ambassador for Translation at the Francis Crick Institute.  

“I would call the symposium a complete success for all involved,” said Michelle Craft, CRUK RadNet City of London Project Manager. “Coming together virtually and in person, in many cases for the very first time, helps align our goals, build relationships and unite us in our mission of radiotherapy research.”

View the symposium video playlist in full. 

Email cruk-radnet-cityoflondon@ucl.ac.uk to sign up to CRUK RadNet City of London’s newsletter to hear about future events.