Research

I am currently Chairman of the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS) Steering Group and the ATAC trial. I have worked extensively in breast cancer and was the first to report the effect of tamoxifen on contralateral tumours as an indicator of its potential chemopreventive role. I demonstrated that a change in mammographic breast density on endocrine treatment is a biomarker for its effectiveness.

I am involved in studies on the use of HPV assays for cervical screening, the use of flexible sigmoidoscopy for colorectal cancer screening and markers for the behaviour of early prostate cancer.

I am the statistician for several major breast cancer trials and maintain an active interest in developing new statistical methodology, especially in the area of adjustments for non-compliance and cross-over, and multi-arm clinical trials.

Other Activities

• Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
• Fellow of the Royal Society
• Science Strategy Committee member for Breast Cancer Now
• Research Strategy Group member for Prostate Cancer UK

Major Funding

• 2018-2023- CRUK, Catalyst
• 2017-2020- Barts Charity, Preventative Neurology
• 2014-2019- CRUK, Cancer Prevention
• 2007-2019- CRUK, IBIS II

Recent Publications

Obesity at age 20 and weight gain during adulthood increase risk of total and premature all-cause mortality: findings from women attending breast screening in Manchester Pegington M, Harvie M, Harkness EF et al. BMC Women's Health (2023) 23(7)

Erratum: Breast cancer polygenic risk scores derived in White European populations are not calibrated for women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent (Genetics in Medicine (2023) 25(9), (S1098360023008596), (10.1016/j.gim.2023.100846)) Roberts E, van Veen EM, Byers H et al. Genetics in Medicine (2023) 25(7)

Breast cancer polygenic risk scores derived in White European populations are not calibrated for women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent Roberts E, van Veen EM, Byers H et al. Genetics in Medicine (2023) 25(7)

Impact of HPV testing in opportunistic cervical screening: Support for primary HPV screening in the United States Cuzick J, Adcock R, Kinney W et al. International Journal of Cancer (2023) 153(7) 83-93

Correction To: Quantifying the effects of risk-stratified breast cancer screening when delivered in real time as routine practice versus usual screening: the BC-Predict non-randomised controlled study (NCT04359420) (British Journal of Cancer, (2023), 128, 11, (2063-2071), 10.1038/s41416-023-02250-w) Gareth Evans D, McWilliams L, Astley S et al. British Journal of Cancer (2023) 128(7) 2140

Quantifying the effects of risk-stratified breast cancer screening when delivered in real time as routine practice versus usual screening: the BC-Predict non-randomised controlled study (NCT04359420) Gareth Evans D, McWilliams L, Astley S et al. British Journal of Cancer (2023) 128(7) 2063-2071

Evaluation of an AI Model to Assess Future Breast Cancer Risk Damiani C, Kalliatakis G, Sreenivas M et al. Radiology (2023) 307(7)

Measuring cancer burden in prostatic needle core biopsies: simplified assessments outperform complex measurements in assessing outcome: evidence to assist pathologist efficiency and minimize datasets Berney DM, Finnegan K, Chu K et al. Histopathology (2023) 82(7) 1021-1028

Anthracycline-containing and taxane-containing chemotherapy for early-stage operable breast cancer: a patient-level meta-analysis of 100 000 women from 86 randomised trials. Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG). Electronic address: bc.overview@ctsu.ox, Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) Lancet (2023) 401(2) 1277-1292
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37061269

GPs’ willingness to prescribe aspirin for cancer preventive therapy in Lynch syndrome: a factorial randomised trial investigating factors influencing decisions Lloyd KE, Hall LH, Ziegler L et al. British Journal of General Practice (2023) 73(7) E302-E309

Biography

I received my BSc in Mathematics and Physics from Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California. I then studied an MSc in Mathematics at the University of London. I obtained my PhD in Mathematics from Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California.

I was appointed John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London. In 2017, I was awarded a CRUK Lifetime Achievement Award and a CBE.