Professor Yaohe Wang is a cancer cell and gene therapist who has spent more than two decades developing novel biological approaches for the treatment of cancer. Based at the Barts Cancer Institute, his research has focused on tumour-targeted replicating oncolytic viruses and the development of innovative viral therapeutics designed to selectively attack cancer cells while stimulating anti-tumour immunity. His research has received sustained support from major UK funding organisations, including the Medical Research Council (MRC), Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) etc., with a substantial track record of publications in prestigious scientific journals such as “Nature Biotechnology”, “The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI)”, “Gut”, and “Nature Communications”, etc.

Over the course of his academic career, Professor Wang has taken discoveries from the laboratory through preclinical development and into clinical-stage biotechnology programmes, providing him with first-hand experience of the challenges involved in translating academic science into medicines. He has also been involved in establishing and developing a university spin-out, navigating the many stages between scientific discovery, intellectual property, company formation, fundraising, product development, manufacturing, regulatory strategy, and clinical translation.

In this talk, Professor Wang will share his personal experience of the journey from academic scientist to biotech founder—including the excitement of seeing scientific ideas become real product that has cured cancer patients, as well as the frustrations, unexpected challenges and lessons learned along the way.

Professor Yaohe Wang – Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London

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Speaker: Dr Graeme Hewitt, King’s College London
Date: Wednesday 8^th July 2026 at 9.30am with tea, coffee and light breakfast.
Location: Large Seminar Room, Innovation Hub, Guy’s Cancer Centre, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 1UL
Registration: Click Here to register

Dr Kelly Sheehan-rooney will also be available if anyone would like to query about fellowships applications and other career opportunities.

Optional tour available of the Guys Campus. (15min)

Biography: Dr Graeme Hewitt is a CRUK RadNet Junior Group Leader in the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at King’s College London, where his research focuses on DNA damage response mechanisms and their application in cancer therapy and radiotherapy sensitisation. His work combines functional genomics, proteomics and advanced cell biology approaches to identify new therapeutic vulnerabilities in cancer.

Graeme completed his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science at Newcastle University before undertaking a PhD in the biology of ageing, awarded in 2016. His doctoral research investigated the interplay between autophagy and DNA double-strand break repair, for which he received the Newcastle University Medical Sciences Doctoral Thesis Prize.

Following his PhD, he carried out postdoctoral research at The Francis Crick Institute in the laboratory of Simon Boulton, where he studied DNA damage response pathways and chromatin remodelling in cancer. During this time, he was also seconded to Artios Pharma in Cambridge, contributing to the development of high-throughput screening assays for novel DNA damage response targets.

Since establishing his independent research group at King’s College London in 2021, Graeme has built a growing and collaborative team focused on understanding how cancer cells respond to DNA damage and radiation therapy. His group now consists of six PhD students and a research technician. He maintains strong collaborations with industry partners including ARTBIO, AstraZeneca and Artios Pharma, helping to translate discoveries in DNA damage response biology into new therapeutic strategies. Dr Hewitt is also embedded within the Cancer Research UK City of London Research Centre, where he serves as a member of the discovery training team as well as maintaining research collaborations across the network spanning functional genetics, radiation biology and assay development.

The post Career Building Series: ‘How to build a Research Group’ appeared first on CRUK RadNet.

We are pleased to host the first scientific discussion and tour of the Total Body PET Facility at King’s College London. 

The event will offer an opportunity to:

• Learn about the facility and its capabilities
• Find out how to access the facility
• Take a guided tour
• Network with colleagues over lunch, tea, and coffee.

Date: Thursday 11 June 2026 | 12:00–5:00 pm
Venue:  London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE)
100 Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7AR

Proposed Agenda:

12pm Lunch
1pm Introduction to the facility by Professor Stephen Archibald
3pm Refreshment break
3.30pm talks by Professors Simon Cherry, Gary Cook and Tim Witney.
4.30pm Tour of facility

Register now

Deadline to Register 8th June 2026.

The post Scientific Discussions and Tour of Total Body PET Facility appeared first on CRUK RadNet.

Join us to learn from Dr Kelly Sheehan‑Rooney on what funders are looking for and hear first hand from Dr Ivana Bjedov on her journey to becoming a CRUK Fellow.

Dr Kelly Sheehan‑Rooney is a research funding and training specialist with extensive experience supporting early‑career researchers. She is currently a Strategic Research Development Manager at King’s College London, where she works across the cancer research community to advance strategic initiatives, strengthen collaborations with partners such as the CRUK City of London Centre and the Radiation Research Centre, and support major funding efforts.

Previously, Kelly led the EMBO Fellowship Programme, overseeing its €24M annual portfolio and supporting more than 550 postdoctoral fellows each year, alongside developing new schemes and strategic projects that enhanced global early‑career researcher development. She has also held fellowship and training roles at Imperial College London and Cancer Research UK.

Dr Ivana Bjedov earned a BSc degree in Molecular Biology form University of Zagreb, Croatia. She did her PhD at the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, in the laboratory of Prof. Miroslav Radman, where she learned about DNA repair in E. coli. Her interest in ageing research started when she moved to University College London, where she was a postdoctoral EMBO fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Dame Linda Partridge.

Her postdoc was focused on understanding how to manipulate the mTOR pathway with rapamycin to improve health and extend lifespan in Drosophila. She joined UCL Cancer Institute upon obtaining ERC Starting Grant and her laboratory is interested in protein synthesis and DNA repair. Recently she became part of the CRUK RadNet City of London network and was awarded a CRUK Senior Fellowship

Register by Friday 27th February 2026

The post Career Building Series: Fellowship Application Workshop appeared first on CRUK RadNet.

Cancer Research UK RadNet City of London hosted a special event to celebrate its PPIE activities over the past five years. All those associated with or interested in the network were invited to attend. The event took place on Tuesday 1^st October 2024 from 11am – 1pm, bring together our patients, carers and researchers to network and see the amazing collection of artwork created in our recent project, ‘What Does Radiotherapy Mean To You?’, which brought together professional artist Liane Harris and people with experience of radiotherapy, their loved ones and researchers.

you can read more about the event here.

The post RadNet CoL Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Celebration Event appeared first on CRUK RadNet.

A short proposal form to outline future trial ideas can be submitted via the form here by 7th October 2024.
Applicants will be informed of outcomes within 2 weeks of submission and will have the opportunity to present their idea and receive constructive feedback and support from the wider group.

Proposed meeting timings (subject to change):

11am – 1pm – Hybrid session with remote login option: Update on current PBT trials
2pm – 4pm – Face-to-face session: Trial Proposal Meeting

To attend the meeting, please could you register by the link here. please note we are unable to cover any travel expenses for attendees. 

Deadline for proposal submission is 7th Oct 2024, all applicants will be notified within 2 weeks of submission. To submit a proposal please complete our form here  To register to attend the workshop please complete our registration form here 

For all queries please email; cruk-radnet-CoL@ucl.ac.uk

The post UK Proton Research Collaborative Trials Meeting appeared first on CRUK RadNet.

CRUK RadNet City of London are hosting the annual CRUK RadNet PhD & Post Doc Symposium at the Crick on Monday 19th June 2023. This event is intended for early career radiation researchers and is open to academia and industry, across the UK. The event is not limited to CRUK RadNet centres/units.

We are inviting abstracts for radiation-focussed short talks and/or posters from PhD students, post-docs and early career scientists and clinicians from across the UK, in both academia and industry. Abstracts from new junior group leaders are particularly welcome.

Venue:

Francis Crick Institute
1 Midland Road
London
NW1 1AT
https://www.crick.ac.uk/

Program

A full copy of the program is now available :  Symposium Programme

For registration for attendance only register via our Eventbrite link

Deadlines – Registration closes: Wednesday 31st May 2023

Our Sponsors:

The post CRUK RadNet PhD & Post Doc Symposium 2023 appeared first on CRUK RadNet.

CRUK RadNet City of London Seminar Series #20

‘Current and future concepts in the management of rectal cancer’

Friday, 31st March 2023 at 3:00 – 4:00pm GMT

Join the Zoom Seminar:  https://ucl.zoom.us/j/96159011871?pwd=c2YrM0hWb08rL3dzUjJDZXJBWm9adz09

Meeting ID: 961 5901 1871
Passcode: 045331

Hosted by Dr Anthony Kong, Reader and Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Kings College London, we warmly welcome Professor Dr Emmanouil Fokas  to join us and deliver a seminar talk on ‘‘Current and future concepts in the management of rectal cancer’’

Abstract: 

Preoperative chemoradiotherapy and short course radiotherapy to patients with clinically staged TNM stage II/III rectal cancer has resulted in excellent local control. However, as the management of rectal cancer is shifting to organ preservation, various strategies have been explored to enhance clinical complete response. Here, the evidence on radiosensitizing options and intensified concomitant chemotherapy to achieve complete response and improve clinical outcome will be summarized. Studies using novel therapeutic agents will be discussed as well.

About our speaker:

Emmanouil Fokas is full Professor of Clinical Radiation Oncology at the Goethe University Frankfurt and Deputy Clinical Chair at the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, University Hospital Frankfurt in Germany. He holds an MD from the Philipps University Marburg, Germany and a PhD (DPhil) in Clinical Oncology and Radiobiology from the University of Oxford, UK. He is a full-time clinician, also heavily involved in translational research. His scientific interests are gastrointestinal and translational radiation oncology with focus on the tumor microenvitonment, and is the PI and co-PI of several Phase I-III trials in rectal and anal cancer. Dr. Fokas has obtained several third-party funding grants in excess of 7M Euro. Dr Fokas is co-founding member of the Frankfurt Cancer Institute (FCI; 115M Euro) established in 2019 after a highly competitive process. Dr Fokas serves on the scientific board of several national and international societies and specialist groups. He has given over 120 invited seminars and lectures throughout the world and is a regular contributor to international medical publications and meetings. He has (co)authored over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including first and last authorships in Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nature Review Clinical Oncology, and JAMA Oncology.

The post 31st March 2023: Seminar Series #20 appeared first on CRUK RadNet.

16 March 2023, 11:30 to 17 March 2023, 14:30

RadNet PhD student Rob Dryden will be running online sessions for secondary schools with the activity Radiation Is All Around Us in the British Science Week Secondary Schools activity pack. Rob will talk about the British Science Week theme of Connections, radiation and radiotherapy and his path to becoming a PhD student.

The same 30-minute session will run twice during British Science Week on Microsoft Teams:

• Thursday 16th March at 11am
• Friday 17th March 2pm

To have a go at the activity download the British Science Week Secondary Schools activity pack here

Rob Dryden is a CRUK RadNet PhD student at Queen Mary University London investigating whether a combination of drug and radiation therapy could offer a new strategy to treat cancer.

The aim of this treatment combination is to force cancer cells to self-destruct while attempting to replicate themselves. In this session Rob will talk about the British Science Week theme of Connections, radiation and radiotherapy and his path to becoming a PhD student.

The post British Science Week: Radiation Is All Around Us appeared first on CRUK RadNet.

The post The 2nd International Workshop on Radiobiology of Molecular Radionuclide Therapy (IWRMR) appeared first on CRUK RadNet.