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Chief Investigator: Professor Hemant Kocher
Center: Barts Health NHS Trust
Prof Kocher is surgeon-scientist with clinical and research interest in pancreatic cancer based at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London. He is Consultant HPB Surgeon, HPB MDT Lead and Research Director for Surgery at the Barts Health NHS Trust. He is Chief Investigator and co-director for The PCRFTB.
HTA Designated Individual: Ms Katherine Ersapah
Center: Barts Health NHS Trust
Ms Katherine is HTA Designated Individual for Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London. Her role is to ensure the compliance to the Human Tissue Act in relation to research. She is also the manager of the Human Tissue Resource Centre based at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and a senior Biomedical Scientist working with the Cellular Pathology department at the Royal London Hospital
Caldicott Guardian: Dr Anita Sanghi
Center: Barts Health NHS Trust
Dr Anita Sanghi is a Consultant Obstetirician Gynaecologist for the last 20 years. She is also the Caldicott Guardian for Barts NHS Health since 2017 and is Divisional Director Women's since 2016. She is also CQC speciality advisor, GMC expert witness in the speciality of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She has held several educational roles in the speciality of the hospital, NE Thames London Deanery and RCOG. Her main interests are Maternal medicine, medical education and leadership.
Nursing Representative: Ms Charmaine Graham
Center: Barts Health NHS Trust
Ms Charmaine Allen has been a HPB Clinical Nurse Specialist at Barts Health NHS Trust for over 10 years.
Pathology Lead: Dr Joanne Chin-Aleong
Center: Barts Health NHS Trust
Dr Joanne ChinAleong is Consultant Histopathologist at Barts Health NHS Trust for over 25 years. She is lead for GI Pathology.
Chief Investigator: Professor Hemant Kocher
Center: Barts Health NHS Trust
Prof Kocher is surgeon-scientist with clinical and research interest in pancreatic cancer based at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London. He is Consultant HPB Surgeon, HPB MDT Lead and Research Director for Surgery at the Barts Health NHS Trust. He is Chief Investigator and co-director for The PCRFTB.
Bioinformatics Lead: Prof Claude Chelala
Center: Barts Health NHS Trust
Prof Chelala joined Barts Cancer Institute driven by a high motivation to translate her work from a substantial basic/computational research platform into a translational/patient setting. She established a research team with complementary expertise in translational bioinformatics, health data science, molecular biology, databases and software engineering. She leads the Health Informatics and Bioinformatics for PCRFTB.
Principal Investigator: Prof Brian Davidson
Center: The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Consultant HPB and Liver Transplant Surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital and Professor of Surgery at UCL. Major research interests include Evidence based Healthcare (UK Cochrane Editor), Clinical Trials, pathogenesis of HPB cancers and novel surgical technologies. Chair of London NIHR RfPB grant panel. Has completed 6 clinical trials in surgery, published 615 full peer reviewed articles including 115 Cochrane reviews (64 are in National or International Guidelines).
Principal Investigator: Mr Zahir Soonawalla
Center: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Mr Zahir Soonawalla is a consultant HPB Surgeon at Oxford since 16 years. His clinical practice includes pancreatic and liver surgery for cancer, as well as a specialist interest in neuroendocrine tumours. He is the Deputy Divisional Medical Director with a focus on theatre performance.
Principal Investigator: Prof Bilal Al-Sarireh
Center: ABM University Health Board, Swansea
Prof Bilal Al-Sarireh is a Laparoscopic General and Gastrointestinal surgeon with special interest in hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery. After qualifying from Jordan University of Science and Technology in 1996, he moved to the UK in 1997 and was awarded a PhD in Surgical Oncology from the University of Nottingham in 2001. Thereafter, he had his basic surgical training at St James Hospital in Leeds, and subsequently undertook specialist hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) and laparoscopic surgery training in Liverpool. In 2009 he completed his HPB and laparoscopic surgery training at the internationally renowned HPB unit in Liverpool. Professor Al-Sarireh moved to Wales in 2009 where he established a tertiary pancreato-biliary Unit for Wales. Currently he is the Clinical Lead for HPB Surgery at Swansea Bay University Health Board working out of Morriston Hospital in Swansea providing a tertiary pancreato-biliary service for mid and south Wales
Principal Investigator: Mr Ali Arshad
Center: University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Mr Arshad is a consultant hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon in Southampton. He graduated with honours from Cambridge University and then completed surgical training in general, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery in the East Midlands. This was intercalated with a two year full time clinical research fellowship in pancreatic cancer in Leicester. He completed his clinical liver and pancreatic fellowship training in Birmingham. Mr Arshad has a particular interest and expertise in all aspects of the management of pancreatic cancer. He has published widely on the use of omega-3 fish oils and methods of improving quality of life in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
Principal Investigator: Mr Deep Malde
Center: University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Mr Deep J. Malde is a Consultant General, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic (HPB) Surgeon at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. He received specialist training at centres in Manchester, Leeds and Cambridge before being appointed as Consultant surgeon. He carries out pancreatic and liver resections and has a major interest in Laparoscopic and Robotic HPB resections contributing hugely to the service development at Leicester. He has a specialist interest in Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) , being the co-founder and lead for the Leicester NET Service which is currently in the process of achieving ENETS Centre of Excellence accreditation.
Principal Investigator: Mr Stuart Robinson
Center: Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Stuart Robinson is a Consultant HPB surgeon at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. He completed his PhD with the fibrosis research group at Newcastle University and was the first NIHR academic clinical lecturer in surgery in the North East of England during his training. His main areas of interest is the management of cancers affecting the pancreas, liver and bile duct. He also has a specific interest in the management of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumours.
Principal Investigator: Mr Satya Bhattacharya
Center: The London Clinic
Satyajit Bhattacharya specialises in surgery of the liver and pancreas (Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary or HPB surgery). He was appointed Consultant Surgeon in 1999 at Barts Health NHS Trust, a post he held for 22 years. He has been Medical Director of The London Clinic (an independent hospital) since 2017 and practises there as a HPB surgeon. He is the Serjeant Surgeon to the Royal Household. He is an Examiner for the Intercollegiate FRCS examinations. Satyajit has raised close to £1 million over the years for cancer research. He has 75 research papers and book chapters to his name and is an Honorary Reader at Barts Cancer Institute.
PCRFTB TAC Chairperson Prof Gareth Thomas
Gareth Thomas is a Professor of Experimental Pathology, joining the University of Southampton in 2009. A primary research focus is the tumour microenvironment, particularly the role of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) in promoting tumour progression. Previously, in 2004 he was awarded a 5-year Clinician Scientist Fellowship from the Heath Foundation/Royal College of Pathologists to develop novel tumour therapies based on alphavbeta6 integrin expression in head and neck cancer. He was appointed Professor of Oral Pathology and Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology at Barts and the London in 2007.
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof Nick Lemoine
Professor Nick Lemoine is Director of the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, and Director of Research & Development for Cancer at Barts Health NHS Trust, the largest NHS Trust in the country. Nick is also the Medical Director of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network for England. Among other commitments, he is the Chair of Trustees of the Medical Research Foundation, and Foreign Dean of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, People’s Republic of China. He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2006, and as a Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineers in 2017
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof Gareth Jenkins
Prof Jenkins Co-leads the In Vitro Toxicology Group (IVTG) at Swansea University. He also carries out research into GI tract cancers and is developing blood-based mutational biomarkers for early cancer diagnosis. He is Senior Editor of Mutagenesis, and was a member of UK Government’s Committee on Mutagenicity (COM), from 2009 to 2019. He is President of the UK Environmental Mutagen Society (UKEMS). He has published over 120 papers, co-written a book on bile acids and won over £5m in grants from external funding bodies. He has been invited to speak at >20 international conferences on DNA mutation/oesophageal cancer in last 5 years alone.
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof Andy Hall
Following specialist training in haematology, Andy Hall helped to establish the paediatric haematology research group in Newcastle and was actively involved in laboratory research for over 25 years. During this time he came to appreciate the importance of obtaining clinical samples in the identification of better ways to diagnose and treat patients affected by cancer. He has helped to set up and run several biobanks and has experience in assessing applications to use samples in research. Andy has also served in governance roles for the Human Tissue Authority and on an NHS Research Ethics Committee.
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof Jelena Mann
Liver fibrosis is a final common pathway of liver injury irrespective of aetiology. It is characterised by progressive replacement of normal hepatic tissue with collagen-rich scar tissue and is responsible for around 1.5 million death per annum worldwide. There are no proven effective therapeutics for fibrosis, the only treatment available for chronic liver disease is transplantation which is limited by availability of donor organs. Jelena Mann is interested in delineating epigenetic signalling pathways that trigger fibrogenesis and in doing so, discovering molecular control of fibrogenesis and associated signalling pathways that can be targeted with novel therapeutics.
PCRFTB TAC Member Dr Wen Chung
Wen Chung obtained his Pharmacy degree in Taiwan, then studied Medicine in Ireland and obtained MBBChBAO and Ph.D. in University College Dublin from 1993-2006. He worked in various laboratories in Germany, Portugal, Ireland, Japan, Australia and UK. He joined the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in 2010. He continues his research career in the HPB Department and builds international collaborations. Wen was an external supervisor for the University of Adelaide in Australia, the University of Leicester and De Montfort University in the UK. He was peer reviewer for NHMRC project grants for Australia and external PhD examiner, the University of Adelaide in Australia. Currently, he is an HPB Specialty Doctor in the HPB Department and Honorary Clinical Fellow in the Department of Genetic and Genome Biology at the University of Leicester. Wen runs the ex vivo organ perfusion and studies the early diagnosis of Pancreatic cancer. He is also involved in setting up the Islet auto transplantation clinical laboratory in the University Hospitals of Leicester. For the last two years, Wen has been working to build a bridge between China and the UK in HPB surgery, as a member of the Management Committee for UGI Congress, the UK Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Society China Representative.
PCRFTB TAC Member Dr Tu Vinh Luong
Tu Vinh Luong is Consultant Histopathologist at The Royal Free Hospital and Honorary Associate Professor at the UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health. Her diagnostic activity includes specialist reporting of neuroendocrine (NET), liver, hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) and gastrointestinal (GI) pathology. She is the Lead HPB and NET pathologist for the Royal Free Neuroendocrine ENETS Centre of Excellence. Tu Vinh is the Clinical Lead for Tissue Banking, a member of the UCL-RFH Biobank Ethical Review Committee (B-ERC-RFH) and a member of the Tissue Access Committee (TAC) of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Tissue Bank (PCRFTB). She has maintained a strong research profile despite a busy non-academic post. This included participation in multiple research projects and multi-centre clinical trials, supervision of research fellows and manuscript peer-review, producing 78 publications. Tu Vinh is the lead author of the current RCPath neuroendocrine tumour dataset.
PCRFTB TAC Member Dr Alison Parry-Jones
Dr Alison Parry-Jones is the Operations Director for the Wales Cancer Bank (WCB), based in Cardiff University in Wales, UK. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations and coordination of multiple collecting sites. As the Designated Individual on the WCB's HTA licence and the CI on the ethics approval from Wales REC3 as a Research Tissue Bank, she is responsible for the legal and ethical management of the biobank.
PCRFTB TAC Member Dr Yaohe Wang
Dr Yaohe Wang is a Professor of Cancer Cell and Gene Therapy and the Head of Cancer Viro-immunotherapy Laboratory at the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London. The major research interest in his Lab is investigating the interaction of oncolytic viruses, tumour cells and host immune responses, in order to design novel cancer therapeutic agents and regimens; a combination of oncolytic viruses with other cancer cell therapies is the focus of a major new programme.
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof Giuseppe Garcea
Professor Garcea is a Consultant HPB surgeon working in Leicester. He has an active research profile and is presently Clinical Director for Cancer, Haematology, Urology, GI Surgery, Palliative Care and Gastroenterology.
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof Alberto Quaglia
Alberto Quaglia is a Consultant Histopathologist and Professor of Hepatopathology based in in Department of Cellular Pathology at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and the UCL Cancer Institute, with a special interest in HPB pathology.
PCRFTB TAC Member Dr Alix Groom
Alix is the Head of Biological Sample Collections for the Bristol Bioresource Laboratories (BBL), University of Bristol. BBL provide a biological sample processing and storage service for a number of cohort studies. Over 2 million samples from 25 plus sample types are stored in the BBL biorepository. As part of their role, Alix ensures compliance to research governance requirements and the Human Tissue Act. They are also the lead for BBL's Quality Management System which is certified to the International Standard ISO 9001.
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof Venkateswarlu Kanamarlapudi
The past and current work of Professor Kanamarlapudi in the understanding of phosphoinositide (PI) and the Ras superfamily of GTPases cell signalling has focused largely on exploring in G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signalling and trafficking. His team have been focusing their recent studies on developing diagnosis methods and targeted therapies for pancreatic cancer by collaborating with Professor Bilal Al-Sarireh (Consultant HPB Surgeon, Morriston Hospital, ABM University Health Board). Therefore, his group has extensive experience in pancreatic cancer research. Furthermore, his groups’ work related to the targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer has been funded by grants from the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund and Life Sciences Research Network Wales.
PCRFTB TAC Member Ms Amanda Gibbon
Amanda Gibbon is a lay member of the Tissue Access Committee. She chairs the Biobank Ethical Review Committee for the UCL/UCLH Biobank for Studying Health and Disease. She also chairs the Steering Committee for the UKCRC Tissue Directory and Co-ordination Centre. Amanda is a Member of the Human Tissue Authority and a non-executive director of Whittington Health NHS Trust.
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof John Marshall
Professor Marshall studies the biology of tumour invasion with a particular interest in the roles of the adhesion molecules expressed on the cell surface that mediate this process. His group concentrates on the study of integrins that are the principal family of adhesion molecules that mediate interaction between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM).
PCRFTB TAC Member Prof John Primrose
John Primrose is Professor of Surgery at the University of Southampton and has had a most distinguished career in a highly challenging academic specialty. He has built an academic group which undertakes translational laboratory oncology and large scale randomised trials. Clinically he has developed one of the highest volume hepato-pancreato-biliary units in the UK, undertaking minimally invasive surgery of the liver and pancreas. He is known internationally as an academic surgical leader and as a supporter and mentor of junior academic surgeons.
PCRFTB TAC Member Ms Julie Darby
I am a Senior Analyst and currently manage a team of analyst and researchers assessing information relating to London, its communities and infrastructure. My commitment to support pancreatic cancer research began In 2006 when my husband was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. As a lay person it is a privilege to contribute to the PCRFTB and to play a part in this unique resource that will underpin vital research and its progression.
PCRFTB TAC Member Dr Rachael Bashford-Rogers
Prof Chelala joined Barts Cancer Institute driven by a high motivation to translate her work from a substantial basic/computational research platform into a translational/patient setting. She established a research team with complementary expertise in translational bioinformatics, health data science, molecular biology, databases and software engineering. She leads the Health Informatics and Bioinformatics for PCRFTB.
