Research

My research is focused on Targeted Precision Prevention. This includes population-based genetic testing, mainstreaming genetic testing and precision medicine approaches for risk prediction, population stratification, targeted screening, cancer prevention (including surgical prevention) and management of familial gynaecological cancer. I have a keen research interest in health economic issues related to these areas.

I am Chief Investigator (CI) on PROTECT (PROTECT: Population based Germline testing for Early detection and Cancer Prevention); PROTECTOR (Preventing Ovarian Cancer through early Excision of Tubes and late Ovarian Removal) trial; DETECT-2 (Direct to Patient testing at Cancer diagnosis for Precision Prevention) study; PRESCORES (Prevention of endometrial cancer: Utility scores of risk-reducing strategies); JHCR (Jewish Hereditary Cancer Research); PROMISE Feasibility study (pilot general population testing and personalised ovarian cancer risk prediction study); SIGNPOST (SystematIc GeNetic testing for Personalised Ovarian cancer Therapy) study and RRESDO (study evaluating attitudes towards early salpingectomy) studies; Co-PI of GCaPPS trial (population based BRCA testing RCT in the Jewish population); Co-Lead for UKCOGS (UK COVID and Gynaecological Cancer Study); Co-lead for SURAKSHA- South Asian Breast Cancer Risk Prediction, Genetic testing & Health Management programme. I have worked on ovarian cancer screening trials (UKCTOCS, UKFOCSS and ALDO).

Other Activities

Academic Roles (select):

• Co-Lead Cancer Prevention Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London
• Co-Lead for Cancer Prevention (Theme-1), CRUK Barts Centre, Queen Mary University of London
• NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) Fellow
• Integrated Academic Training Programme Director, London School of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (LSSOG), Health Education England (HEE)
• Lead for the RCOG Advanced Professional Module (APM) in Clinical Research for London
• Specialty Research Lead for Gynaecological Cancer, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), North Thames Clinical Research Network (CRN)
• Honorary Professor, Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• Infosys Chair in Oncology, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

Clinical Roles (select):

• Lead Women’s Precision Prevention Service, Barts Health NHS Trust
• Chair London Cancer High Risk Gynaecological Cancer MDT
• North Thames GLH Clinical Lead for Gynaecological Cancer
• Member National Cancer Programme Early Diagnosis Task & Finish group
• Topic Advisor NICE Guideline on Familial Ovarian Cancer
• Deputy Director Gynae-oncology RCOG training programme

Other roles:

• Associate Editor Trials; Guest Editor Cancers (Basel): Special Issue Women’s Cancers Risk
• Member of number of advisory bodies and oversight committees
• President of the European Network of Young Gynaecological Oncologists (ENYGO) and member of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) Council from 2011-2013

Clinical Interests: Ovarian cancer radical debulking surgery, Sentinel node biopsy, Management of women at high risk of gynaecological cancer

Major Funding

• 2022-2026 – GSK and North-East London Cancer Alliance, Direct to Patient testing at Cancer diagnosis for Precision Prevention (DETECT). Role- CI, £1.1M
• 2017-2024 – Barts Charity & Rosetrees Trust, PROTECTOR (Preventing Ovarian Cancer through early Excision of Tubes and late Ovarian Removal), Role – CI, £548,000
• 2019-2024- Barts Charity, Barts Cancer Centre Grant: Cancer Prevention & Risk Management Theme. Role- Co-applicant, £1.8M
• 2019- NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellowship, £20,000 annual
• 2020-2022, BGCS, UKCOGS: UK COVID and Gynaecological Cancer Study. Role- Co-Lead, £29,300
• 2020-2021, CRUK & DBT India, SURAKSHA- South Asian Breast Cancer Risk Prediction, Genetic testing & Health Management. Co-Lead, £30,000.
• 2019- 2023, China Medical Board, Value based genetic testing technology - breast cancer in China. Role - Co-Investigator, $75,000
• 2016-2022- Barts Charity, Systematic genetic testing for ovarian cancer (SIGNPOST). Role- CI, £259,000
• 2019-2023- Cancer Research UK, Targeting the innate immune system in high grade serous ovarian cancer (Canbuild). Role- Co-investigator, £1.95M
• 2017-2020- UKIERI, UK India Education Research Initiative, Investigating BRCAness in epithelial ovarian cancer in India to develop stratified surgical & chemotherapy options. Role- Co-investigator, Partner. £194,405
• 2016–2019- CRUK and The Eve Appeal, PROMISE Feasibility Study Role- CI, £130,000
• 2016-2019- Cancer Research UK, Developing Core Outcomes Sets to standardise reporting in endometrial cancer & atypical endometrial hyperplasia. Role- Co-investigator, £163,790
• 2016-2018- The Eve Appeal, Evaluating cost-effectiveness of population testing for ovarian/breast cancer gene mutations in the general population. Role – CI, £77,340
• 2011-2019- CRUK & The Eve appeal, PROMISE 2016 Programme. Role - Co-investigator, £3M
• 2008-2019- The Eve Appeal, Genetic Cancer Prediction through population Screening (GCaPPS). Acting CI, £561,523
• 2010-2014, NIHR, NIHR Walport Academic Clinical Lecturer Award, £261,800

Recent Publications

The DNA methylome of cervical cells can predict the presence of ovarian cancer Barrett JE, Jones A, Evans I et al. Nature Communications (2022) 13(7)

Unselected Population Genetic Testing for Personalised Ovarian Cancer Risk Prediction: A Qualitative Study Using Semi-Structured Interviews Gaba F, Oxley S, Liu X et al. Diagnostics 12(13) 1028-1028

Cost-Effectiveness of Genetic Testing for All Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in China Sun L, Cui B, Wei X et al. Cancers (2022) 14(7)

British Gynaecological Cancer Society Recommendations for Women With Gynecological Cancer Who Received Non-standard Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic Taylor A, Sundar SS, Bowen R et al. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey (2022) 77(10) 156-157

Post-recurrence survival in patients with cervical cancer Cibula D, Dostálek L, Jarkovsky J et al. Gynecologic Oncology (2022) 164(7) 362-369

Surgical decision making in premenopausal BRCA carriers considering risk-reducing early salpingectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy: A qualitative study Gaba F, Goyal S, Marks D et al. Journal of Medical Genetics (2022) 59(7) 122-132

Gynaecological Cancers Risk: Breast Cancer, Ovarian Cancer and Endometrial Cancer Manchanda R (2022) (1)

Association of hysterectomy and invasive epithelial ovarian and tubal cancer: a cohort study within UKCTOCS Taylor JA, Burnell M, Ryan A et al. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (2022) 129(7) 110-118

British Gynaecological Cancer Society recommendations for women with gynecological cancer who received non-standard care during the COVID-19 pandemic Taylor A, Sundar SS, Bowen R et al. International journal of gynecological cancer : official journal of the International Gynecological Cancer Society (2022) 32(7) 9-14

Concise Reporting of Benign Endometrial Biopsies is an Acceptable Alternative to Descriptive Reporting. Kriplani D, Olivar AA, Tchrakian N et al. Int J Gynecol Pathol (2022) 41(2) 20-27
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33664191

Team

Academic Clinical Lecturer

• Dr Michail Sideris

Senior Research Fellow

• Li Sun

Clinical Trials Coordinator

• Nicole Itzkowitz
• Hannah Nudds

PhD Students

• Ms Faiza Gaba
• Ms Dhivya Chandrasekaran
• Ms Xia Wei
• Dr Samuel Oxley
• Ms Jyotsna Pundir

Honorary Research Fellows

• Ashwin Kalra
• Monika Sobocan
• Katrina Sarig

Biography

I was appointed as Professor of Gynaecological Oncology at Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London in Sep 2019. I joined Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary, as a Clinical Senior Lecturer in June 2015. I have worked as a consultant Gynaecological Oncologist at Barts Health NHS Trust from June 2015. From 2014- 2015 I worked as a Locum Consultant Gynaecological Oncologist at Barts Health and Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College London, UK. I completed a PhD in gynaecological oncology at UCL, followed by a NIHR ACL Fellowship and subspecialty training in gynaecological oncology from UCLH and Bart's Hospital.

I am Co-Lead for Cancer Prevention Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary; and Co-Lead for Cancer Prevention (Theme-1), CRUK Barts Centre. I was awarded an NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellowship in March 2019. I am Chief Investigator (CI) on PROTECT (PROTECT: Population based Germline testing for Early detection and Cancer Prevention); PROTECTOR (Preventing Ovarian Cancer through early Excision of Tubes and late Ovarian Removal) trial; DETECT-2 (Direct to Patient testing at Cancer diagnosis for Precision Prevention) study; PRESCORES (Prevention of endometrial cancer: Utility scores of risk-reducing strategies); JHCR (Jewish Hereditary Cancer Research); PROMISE Feasibility study (pilot general population testing and personalised ovarian cancer risk prediction study); SIGNPOST (SystematIc GeNetic testing for Personalised Ovarian cancer Therapy) study and RRESDO (study evaluating attitudes towards early salpingectomy) studies; Co-PI of GCaPPS trial (population based BRCA testing RCT in the Jewish population); Co-Lead for UKCOGS (UK COVID and Gynaecological Cancer Study); Co-lead for SURAKSHA- South Asian Breast Cancer Risk Prediction, Genetic testing & Health Management programme. I have worked on ovarian cancer screening trials (UKCTOCS, UKFOCSS and ALDO).

I lead the Barts Health Women’s Precision Prevention Service, Chair the London Cancer High Risk Gynaecological Cancer MDT, Member National Cancer Programme Early Diagnosis Task & Finish group, Topic Advisor (Clinical Lead) for the NICE Guideline on Familial Ovarian Cancer, and Clinical Lead for Gynaecological Cancer North Thames GLH. I am scientific advisor to BRCA Umbrella and GO Girls, Chair the Independent Advisory Committee of the Mermaid Project (Demark) and serve on number of oversight committees.

I am actively involved in gynaecological oncology training issues. I helped develop and establish ENYGO (European Network of Young Gynaecological Oncologists) from its inception and have led/undertaken a number of initiatives for European and International trainees in gynaecological oncology. I have served as the president of the European Network of young Gynaecological Oncologists (ENYGO) and a member of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) council (2011-2013). I am the Integrated Academic Training Programme Director and lead for the RCOG Advanced Professional Module (APM) in Clinical Research for London Specialty School of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Health Education England. I am the deputy director of the Barts Health RCOG gynaecological oncology training programme and Mentor for the IGCS Gynecologic Oncology Global Curriculum & Mentorship Program.

Previous posts

• Sep 2021 – Feb 2022 - Director Graduate Studies, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London
• June 2015- Sep 2019 - Clinical Senior Lecturer, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London
• March 2014-May 2015 - Consultant Gynaecological Oncologist at Barts Hospital & Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College London
• Feb 2010-Feb 2014 - NIHR Walport Clinical Lecturer & Sub-Specialty trainee Gynaecological Oncology (University College London Hospital, Bart’s Hospital, University College London)
• Feb 2007-Jan 2010 - Clinical Research Fellow, Gynaecological Oncology (University College London)
• Sep 2001-Jan 2007 - Specialist Registrar Obstetrics & Gynaecology East of England Training Programme (Cambridge rotation)
• July 2000-July 2001 - Indian Council Medical Research Fellowship, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India
• July 1993-Oct 1999 - Junior and Senior Resident Obstetrics & Gynaecology (6 year training programme), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), India

Education & Qualifications

• 2014- CCT in Gynaecological Oncology and CCT in Obstetrics & Gynaecology
• 2014- BSCCP accreditation in Colposcopy: BSCCP
• 2013- PhD (Gynaecological Oncology): University College London, UK
• 2011- NIHR Leadership Programme for Trainees: Ashridge Business School, UK
• 2005- MRCOG : Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG), UK
• 1996- MD (Obstetrics & Gynaecology): All India Institute of medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, India
• 1993- M.B.B.S : All India Institute of medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, India