Prevent Breast Cancer’s Research Conference

Prevent Breast Cancer’s Research Conference will be an interdisciplinary conference focused on risk prediction and reduction. Organised by Prevent Breast Cancer Experts, and leading Clinicians and Scientists, Cliona Kirwan, Lester Barr, Sacha Howell, and Rob Clarke.

Professor Adetunji Toriola

Professor of Surgery and Co-Leader of the Cancer Prevention & Control Program, Washington University School of Medicine, USA

Professor Toriola’s research focuses on characterising the molecular basis, and determinants of mammographic breast density and breast cancer in order to identify those that can be targeted in breast cancer prevention, especially in premenopausal women. He is the Principal Investigator on 2 major US grants in this area; examining the effects of RANKL inhibition and metabolite profiles on mammographic density in young women.

Presentation title: Denosumab in premenopausal women with high breast density

Dr Andrea De Censi

Head of the Division of Medical Oncology at Galliera Hospital, Genoa, Italy

Dr De Censi co-founded the first Clinical Unit of Cancer Chemoprevention in Italy at the European Institute of Oncology in 1995 and has led the field designing clinical trials seeking to optimise and implement novel therapeutic prevention strategies.

Presentation title: Risk reduction through preventative medication – low dose therapy studies.

Professor Rama Khokha

Senior scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.

Professor Khokha has made major breakthroughs in unravelling the complex interactions between the different cell types and stromal components in the normal mammary gland. Her work on cellular metabolism of the stem/progenitor populations has huge potential in defining novel approaches to breast cancer prevention.

Presentation title: Understanding precursor biology for breast cancer prevention

Professor Fiona Gilbert

Professor of Radiology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

Professor Gilbert is an academic radiologist evaluating risk based screening and the impact of Artificial Intelligence and novel functional imaging in cancer detection. She is also Chief Investigator of the UK Breast Screening; Risk Adaptive Imaging for Density (BRAID) study a randomised, multi-centre study assessing the impact of supplementary imaging in the detection of breast cancer in women in the NHSBSP with high mammographic density.

Presentation title: The UK Breast Screening; Risk Adaptive Imaging for Density (BRAID) study update and its integration in international personalised breast screening studies

Hear from some of the fantastic experts at the Prevent Breast Cancer Research Conference who are working tirelessly to prevent the disease, covering topics from personalised screening to predicting young onset breast cancer:

Lester Barr

Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon

Lester Barr MBE is a Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon, as well as a Co-Founder and Honorary President of Prevent Breast Cancer.

Professor Cliona Kirwan

Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon, Clinician Scientist in Surgical Oncology, and Professor of Surgical Trials.

As well as being a Consultant Breast Surgeon, Cliona runs a research laboratory, delivers clinical research and clinical trials and is a key member of the Prevent Breast Cancer team, as Chair of our Scientific Advisory Board.

Sumohan Chatterjee

Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon

Mr Sumohan Chatterjee works at The Nightingale Centre and specialises oncoplastic and reconstructive breast surgery.

Dr Mary Wilson

Consultant Breast Radiologist

Mary is the programme lead for the National Breast Imaging Academy, as well as a trustee of Prevent Breast Cancer.

Professor Gareth Evans

Consultant at Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, and Chair of medical genetics and cancer epidemiology at the University of Manchester.

Professor Evans has established a national and international reputation in clinical and research aspects of cancer genetics.

Professor Rob Clarke

Professor of Breast Biology, University of Manchester

Professor Rob Clarke is Director of the Manchester Breast Centre and Head of the Breast Biology Research Lab in the Oglesby Cancer Research Building, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester.

Dr Sacha Howell

Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology

Dr Sacha Howell runs the Family History Clinic at The Nightingale Centre and conducts translational breast cancer prevention research.

Dr Andrew Gilmore

Senior Lecturer, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester

Andrew is particularly interested in how breast cancer is initiated, as an important risk factor for breast cancer is raised mammographic density.

Rajiv Dave

Consultant Oncoplastic Breast and Endocrine Surgeon, The Nightingale Centre

Mr Rajiv Dave offers extensive expertise across various aspects of breast cancer care, including health inequalities and the global challenge of breast cancer.

Professor Sue Astley

Professor in Intelligent Medical Imaging, University of Manchester.

Professor Sue Astley’s research group develops AI-based imaging biomarkers for breast cancer risk prediction and early detection.

James Harvey

Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon, The Nightingale Centre

James Harvey specialises in research into surgical outcomes from breast surgery and in the development and assessment of new devices in breast surgery.

Professor David French

Professor of Health Psychology, University of Manchester.

David has led several projects relating to breast cancer early detection, including examining psychological impact of receiving risk estimates or false positive test results.

Dr William Tapper

Associate Professor of Genomic Informatics, University of Southampton

Dr Tapper’s research is based around improved cancer diagnosis, risk prediction and personalised treatment.

Dr Hannah Harrison

Research Fellow, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester

Dr Harrison has over 20 years experience in cancer research and now covers topics from risk and prevention to invasive and metastatic disease.

Dr Bruno Simões

Research Fellow, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester

Dr Bruno Simões investigates molecular mechanisms that lead to aberrations in the tumour-initiating cells to develop better breast cancer chemoprevention approaches for high-risk women.

Professor Michelle Harvie

Research Dietician at the Prevent Breast Cancer Research Unit, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, University of Manchester. 

For the past 23 years, Prof. Michelle Harvie has researched optimum diet and exercise strategies for the prevention and management of breast cancer. Michelle is also a Honorary Clinical Professor from Manchester Academic Health Science Centre.

Dr Emma Woodward

Consultant Clinical Geneticist in Manchester, Specialising in hereditary cancer predisposition

Emma has a special interest in hereditary breast cancer genetics, is a Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester, and co-director of research for the International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection.

Professor Pepper Schedin

Professor of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, USA.

The Schedin lab investigates how normal reproductive biology defines windows of risk for breast cancer incidence and outcomes, with a focus on stromal-epithelial cell plasticity. Recent work describes how weaning-induced mammary gland and liver involution contribute to the poor prognosis of young women’s breast cancer. Involution also provides opportunities for highly targeted breast cancer prevention and treatment strategies, which is a current focus of the lab.

Professor Jack Cuzick

John Snow Professor of Epidemiology, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London.

Professor Jack Cuzick is a director of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London and a head of its Centre for Cancer Prevention. His current interests are in cancer epidemiology and clinical trials, with special interest in prevention and screening.

Dr Andrew Reynolds

Senior Director Scientist, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK.

Dr Andrew Reynolds is a Senior Director Scientist at AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK. Andrew completed his PhD at the CRUK London Research Institute in 2002, followed by a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Barts Cancer Institute (BCI) in London from 2002 to 2007. He then held a post as a Group Leader at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London from 2007 to 2016, before then joining AstraZeneca in 2016. His current research at AstraZeneca is focused on premalignant disease and cancer prevention.