How is artificial intelligence being used in cancer care, and what do patients think about it? In this 'Ask Me Anything' episode, Ellie Wolmark, Programme Manager for Integrated Cancer Medicine (ICM) at the CRUK Cambridge Centre, speaks with patient representatives Lorraine, Frankie, and Ann from across our Patient and Public Involvement groups, alongside ICM researchers Professor James Brenton, Dr Ines Machado, and Dr Gabriel Funingana from the University of Cambridge. Together, they explore ho...
Jul 02, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Professor Kevin Brindle joins Ellie Wolmark to discuss his life's work in imaging research as he reaches retirement. Kevin is particularly interested in metabolic imaging. His research group has developed novel magnetic resonance-based molecular imaging techniques to detect the early responses of tumours to therapy, with a view to translating these into clinical application. He talks about how he got into this topic in the first place, his amazing contributions to the field over the past four de...
Oct 02, 2024•35 min
Dr Ines Machado, Dr Gabriel Funingana, Thomas Buddenkotte and Amied Shadmaan talk about the research they are undertaking within the collaborative project between GE Healthcare, the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. They also provide an update on the development of the Oncocare platform. Ines is a Research Associate in the Crispin Lab at the CRUK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, UK. Gabriel is a Clinical Fellow and PhD student in the De...
Sep 18, 2024•40 min
This week, Ellie Wolmark is joined by Dr Claire King, Cherry May Sanchez and Dr Rhys Grant to discuss some of the amazing engagement, involvement and inclusion initiatives that we run here at the CRUK Cambridge Centre at the University of Cambridge, UK. They share how and why we engage and involve patients and the public in our research, and focus on the importance of championing equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in all aspects of our work. You will also hear about some of our projects for...
Sep 04, 2024•46 min
In today's episode, Marika Reinius and Maria Delgado Ortet talk about the multidisciplinary 3D mould guided radiogenomics project in ovarian cancer. They highlight how the process works and why it is potentially game changing in the treatment of a cancer where the standard of care has not really changed in over 20 years. Marika is a clinical research fellow at the CRUK Cambridge Centre, University of Cambridge, UK. Maria is a PhD Student in the Department of Radiology and the Department of Engin...
Aug 21, 2024•29 min
Professor Jason Carroll speaks about his research in molecular oncology, with a focus on the work underpinning the PIONEER breast cancer trial and the outcomes of this clinical trial. Jason is Professor of Molecular Oncology and Senior Group Leader at the CRUK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, UK. He is also co-lead for the Precision Breast Cancer Virtual Institute at the CRUK Cambridge Centre, UK.
Aug 07, 2024•40 min
In today's episode, Ellie Wolmark is joined by Professor George Vassiliou to talk about his research on clonal haematopoiesis and a new clinic that he has recently set up. We'll uncover what clonal haematopoiesis is and how it can sometimes lead to the development of blood cancer. George is a CRUK Senior Clinical Fellow and Professor of Haematological Medicine at the University of Cambridge, UK. He is also a member of Faculty at the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and a Consultant Hae...
Jul 24, 2024•40 min
In this episode, Professors Grant Stewart and Stephen Price discuss what it means to be both a cancer surgeon and a clinical researcher. They talk about how they can improve surgery for brain and kidney cancer patients, how they can identify cancer as quickly as possible through screening, and how they can improve on the outcomes of surgery by augmenting it with other treatments such as radiotherapy and drugs. Grant is co-lead of both the Institute for Integrated Cancer Medicine and the Urologic...
Jul 10, 2024•45 min
Dr Raj Jena talks about his research on analysis of the images used for radiotherapy planning and for modelling the effects and outcomes of radiotherapy treatment. As a clinician, he uses radiotherapy and drug treatments on patients with tumours in the brain or spine. He also talks about the InnerEye Project, a collaboration with Microsoft Cambridge, which uses algorithms to map and segment tumours from CT/MRI scans. Raj is a Clinical Consultant and Radiation Oncologist at Cambridge University H...
Jun 26, 2024•33 min
Ellie Wolmark introduces part four of our Integrated Cancer Medicine: Research in Focus series. She talks to members of the CRUK Cambridge Centre about a diverse range of topics, including Dr Raj Jena to hear about his ground-breaking research, specifically the InnerEye project and how this amazing collaboration with Microsoft Cambridge has been brought into the clinic to benefit patients. Other topics include combining being a surgeon and a clinical researcher, Professor George Vassiliou talkin...
Jun 25, 2024•4 min
In this special episode of our podcast, we bring you a recording of a live 'Ask Me Anything (AMA)' event held by our Pancreatic Cancer Programme for World Pancreatic Cancer Day on 16 November 2023. The AMA webinar saw specialists from across different disciplines answering questions submitted by members of the public and discussing topics related to day-by-day living with pancreatic cancer. In alphabetical order, the AMA panel consisted of: Dr Bristi Basu, an Academic Consultant in Medical Oncol...
Feb 21, 2024•59 min
In this special episode of our podcast, Hui-Ling Ou is joined by Isobel Turbin to talk about inherited pancreatic cancer, genetic testing, and genetic counselling. They also discuss which genetic tests are currently available, why these genes are important, and how testing results may help pancreatic cancer patients. Dr Hui-Ling Ou is the Programme Manager for the Pancreatic Cancer Programme at the CRUK Cambridge Centre at the University of Cambridge, UK. Isobel Turbin is a Principal Genetic Cou...
Nov 09, 2023•29 min
In today's episode, Ellie Wolmark is joined by Natalie Ellis, Ellen Nowak and Lauren Gardiner Walton to talk about the development of the Arts Strategy for the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (CCRH). They also discuss the benefits of the arts in cancer care and in supporting patient treatment and recovery. If you would like to get involved in the CCRH project by joining any of the groups that Ellen mentions in this episode, further information can be found at: www.cambridgecancer.org.uk/our-c...
Apr 19, 2023•37 min
In this episode, Professor Charlotte Coles talks about her work on the personalisation of radiation techniques to give patients with cancer the best chance of cure with the least side effects. Charlotte is Professor of Breast Cancer Clinical Oncology and Deputy Head of the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge, UK. She is also the Director of CRUK RadNet Cambridge.
Apr 05, 2023•24 min
In this week's episode, Professor Florian Markowetz talks about his work and recent publication on chromosomal instability. Chromosomal instability is a dynamic process of DNA change, which leads to some DNA being present multiple times and some being lost altogether. Some cancers are dominated by this process of genomic disruption; ovarian, pancreatic and triple-negative breast cancer for example. These chaotic DNA changes mean that there are not good biomarkers present to guide treatment decis...
Mar 22, 2023•20 min
Dr Marcel Gehrung talks about how his research at the CRUK Cambridge Centre led him to co-found the start-up Cyted with Rebecca Fitzgerald, Professor of Cancer Prevention and Director of the Early Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Maria O'Donovan, lead pathologist for upper gastrointestinal cancer and diagnostic cytology at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Cyted combines innovative AI-driven diagnostics with a new sample collection method to detect and ...
Mar 08, 2023•32 min
In this week's fascinating episode, Ellie Wolmark is joined by Dr Dario Bressan to discuss how the Cancer Grand Challenges team IMAXT has brought cancer researchers together with astronomers and video game designers to build the world's first virtual reality map of a tumour. By developing this entirely new way to study cancer, team IMAXT could revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of people with the disease. Dario is Head of the IMAXT Laboratory at the CRUK Cambridge Institute at the Univers...
Feb 22, 2023•35 min
In the first episode of part three, podcast host Ellie Wolmark is joined by Professor Robert Rintoul and Lauren Wallis to talk about biological sampling. They discuss what biosamples and biobanks are, how they are collected and used, and why they are so important for both patient treatment and cancer research. Robert is Professor of Thoracic Oncology in the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge, and Honorary Consultant Respiratory Physician at Royal Papworth Hospital. Lauren is T...
Feb 08, 2023•43 min
Ellie Wolmark introduces part three of our Integrated Cancer Medicine: Research in Focus series. In the coming episodes, the net continues to be spread a little wider to include conversations about biosampling, the IMAXT project, the company Cyted, personalised radiotherapy, and much, much more. As always you will hear discussions about research and research collaborations, the techniques that are being developed, and how they translate to the clinic to affect patient treatments and outcomes. El...
Feb 07, 2023•5 min
In the final episode of this series, we are joined by a special guest, Robert Chuter, a researcher from the Christie Hospital. Robert shares with us his research into the impact radiotherapy has on climate change. We are all aware of the effects that we have on the world around us, and the way in which we minimise our impact on the environment is crucial for the future of the planet. Neil, a member of our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group, joins us this week to discuss r...
Jan 25, 2023•37 min
Today, Andrew Robinson talks to us about adaptive radiotherapy, where we are with it now, and the potential it has for the future. Adaptive radiotherapy has been around for many years, but it is not currently standard practice. Essentially, there are different ways in which we can adapt radiotherapy treatment, which Andrew explains during this episode. Helene, a member of our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group, asks questions about what this may mean for radiotherapy prac...
Jan 18, 2023•25 min
Today we speak with David Fernandez-Antoran about his involvement in the FLASH Radiotherapy Working Group to find out more about the exciting prospect of FLASH radiotherapy and the pre-clinical work currently happening within CRUK RadNet Cambridge. Amy, our patient representative, joins us once again to learn more about this exciting new research and to share how she managed the side effects of her radiotherapy treatment. David is the CRUK RadNet Group Leader at the Gurdon Institute, University ...
Jan 11, 2023•30 min
In today's episode, Dr Indrani Bhattacharya introduces proton beam therapy. This technique is in its infancy in the UK, with The Christie NHS Trust in Manchester and University College London Hospital building the first proton beam therapy centre as a part of their hospitals' radiotherapy services and to serve the entire UK population. With all this new research being prepared, we want to know what this means for radiotherapy practice in the near future. Amy, our patient representative, shares h...
Dec 21, 2022•26 min
In this episode, Cristina Ferreira discusses with us a new technology, soon to be implemented here in Cambridge, UK, called Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT). Our patient representative Caroline shares her experiences of radiotherapy treatment and the challenges that this new technology could help overcome. Cristina is the Head of Technical Operations in the Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK. Her current role involves...
Dec 14, 2022•25 min
Podcast host Rachael Webster is joined by Dr Raj Jena to find out about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on radiotherapy practice and how this is already being used in radiotherapy today. The Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, UK, has been using some machine learning approaches that were developed in house for many years, but what does this mean? Beverly from our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group asks Raj the questions that patients...
Dec 07, 2022•30 min
Welcome to our "Future of radiotherapy" series, hosted by Rachael Webster. In this introductory episode, Rachael gives us an overview of the Cancer Research UK Radiation Research Network, known as CRUK RadNet, and introduces CRUK RadNet Cambridge's first patient and public involvement project which has led to the creation of this podcast series. You'll also find out from Rachael what's coming up in our next few episodes. Rachael is a Senior Therapeutic Radiographer and CRUK Translational Researc...
Dec 06, 2022•5 min
In today's special episode, Dr Kelly Fagan Robinson joins podcast host Ellie Wolmark to talk about her career as a social anthropologist and the research that she is undertaking with the Early Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge and the International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection. The field of early cancer detection encompasses a diverse collective of research disciplines, with each representing different kinds of expertise and relying on different data collection methods and a...
Nov 30, 2022•34 min
In this special episode of our podcast, we bring you a recording of a live 'Ask Me Anything (AMA)' event held by our Pancreatic Cancer Programme for World Pancreatic Cancer Day on the 17th November 2022. The AMA session saw specialists discussing the broad supportive aspects of living with pancreatic cancer, whilst also answering questions that were submitted by members of the public. If you have a question that you would like us to answer in a future podcast episode, or if you have ideas for to...
Nov 23, 2022•56 min
In the final episode of this series, we speak to Katy Cooper, Suzanne Miller and Cathy Philpot from our research team. Radiotherapy research is critically important for the advancement of radiotherapy practice, whether this is in the way we deliver radiotherapy or how we can use it in combination with other treatments such as immunotherapy or chemotherapy. Katy is part of the Cambridge Clinical Trials Centre at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who oversee the planning, running...
Nov 09, 2022•22 min
Dr Yvonne Rimmer and Dr Saif Ahmad talk to us about their roles as clinical oncologists in radiotherapy and what their roles mean to patients coming in for cancer treatment. Clinical oncologists undergo years of continued training and learning to become specialists in the field of radiotherapy and for a specific part of the body. They work closely with our radiographers, physicists and planning team, and with many other members of the wider multi-disciplinary teams such as surgeons, nurses and d...
Nov 02, 2022•25 min
