Research

I have set up a research team devoted to cancer genetic studies and biomarker development, in particular in male urological cancers. The mission of the research team is to reduce mortality and morbidity of cancer patients by understanding cancer development and progression mechanisms and facilitating precision medicine through the development of efficient cancer detection, prognostic and treatment response prediction/monitoring biomarkers.

Our past work has been mainly focused on identification of genetic alterations and genetic mechanisms in cancer development, progression and therapeutic response. Recently, our research work moved into circulation biomarker development, including CTCs, exosome and other cells, for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and prediction/monitoring of cancer progression and therapeutic response.

There are currently two main research areas of interest:

• Biomarker discovery and clinical applications, focusing on circulating biomarkers (CTCs, exosomes and other cancer associated circulating cells) for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and prediction/monitoring of cancer progression and therapeutic response.
• Mechanisms of prostate cancer metastasis and therapeutic resistance.

Other Activities

• Senior Editor: American Journal of Cancer Research
• Editorial Board Member: The Open Breast Cancer Journal
• Editorial Board Member: Journal of Cancer Research Updates
• Scientific assessment committee member: France national cancer research programme Canceropole (2007-2014)
• Research grant reviewer for funding bodies, such as British Medical Research Council (MRC), British National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), UK Prostate Action, Prostate Cancer Research Charity, National Cancer Institute of France, International Association of Cancer Research, Hong Kong Research Grants Council
• Referee of scientific journals such as Oncogene, J Path, Gene Chromosome Cancer, Br J Cancer, International J Cancer, Carcinogenesis, PloS One, BMC Cancer, Histopathology, Clinical Cancer Research and America Journal of Pathology
• Member of prostate cancer ICGC consortium
  Member of PRACTICAL prostate cancer predisposition study international consortium
• Active Member of American Association for Cancer Research
• Honorable Professor, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
• Honorable Professor, Naning Medical University, China
• Visiting Professor, Zhengzhou University Medical College, China

Major Funding

• 2021-2026 - Prostate Cancer UK, 'Circulating tumour cells as biomarkers for treatment stratification of localised prostate cancer,' £749,527 (leading Co-PI)
• 2019-2021- CRUK Cancer Early Detection Primer award, 'Exploring platelet miRNA as a novel cost-effective non-invasive liquid biopsy approach to improve prostate cancer diagnosis,' £97,242
• 2017-2022- Angle Europe PLC, "The prognostic value of circulating megakaryocytes for cancer patients" £278,000
• 2020-2022- Orchid, "The Robert Lane Tissue Bank incorporating the Circulating Tumour Cell project" £283,547.46. (Co-PI)
• 2008-2011- Medical Research Council, Associated genes in prostate cancer, £303,225
  
  

Recent Publications

Rare Germline Variants Are Associated with Rapid Biochemical Recurrence After Radical Prostate Cancer Treatment: A Pan Prostate Cancer Group Study Burns D, Anokian E, Saunders EJ et al. European Urology (2022) 82(7) 201-211

Assessing the causal role of epigenetic clocks in the development of multiple cancers: a Mendelian randomization study. Morales Berstein F, McCartney DL, Lu AT et al. Elife (2022) 11(2)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35346416

Investigating the Fibrillar Ultrastructure and Mechanics in Keloid Scars Using In Situ Synchrotron X-ray Nanomechanical Imaging. Zhang Y, Hollis D, Ross R et al. Materials (Basel) (2022) 15(1)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35269067

Prostate cancer risk stratification improvement across multiple ancestries with new polygenic hazard score. Huynh-Le M-P, Karunamuni R, Fan CC et al. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis (2022) (2)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35152271

The interaction of p53 and DNA repair gene mutations and their impact on tumor mutation burden and immune response in human malignancies. Xue X, Dong L, Burke E et al. Am J Cancer Res (2022) 12(2) 1866-1883
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35530277

Polygenic hazard score is associated with prostate cancer in multi-ethnic populations Huynh-Le MP, Fan CC, Karunamuni R et al. Nature Communications (2021) 12(7)

Facile One-Pot Nanoproteomics for Label-Free Proteome Profiling of 50-1000 Mammalian Cells Martin K, Zhang T, Lin TT et al. Journal of Proteome Research (2021) 20(7) 4452-4461

A Novel CpG Methylation Risk Indicator for Predicting Prognosis in Bladder Cancer Guo Y, Yin J, Dai Y et al. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2021) 9(7)

Publisher Correction: Trans-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of prostate cancer identifies new susceptibility loci and informs genetic risk prediction (Nature Genetics, (2021), 53, 1, (65-75), 10.1038/s41588-020-00748-0) Conti DV, Darst BF, Moss LC et al. Nature Genetics (2021) 53(7) 413

The Identification of Plasma Exosomal miR-423-3p as a Potential Predictive Biomarker for Prostate Cancer Castration-Resistance Development by Plasma Exosomal miRNA Sequencing Guo T, Wang Y, Jia J et al. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2021) 8(7)

Team

Postdoctoral Researchers

• Rachel Lawrence

PhD Students

• Caitlin Davis
  
• Xueke Wang
• Junjie Chai
• Edwina Burke

Clinical Research Fellows

• Tarek Al-Hammouri

Research Technician

• Edwina Burke

Biography

Education