About us

Allan Hackshaw is Professor of Epidemiology & Medical Statistics at University College London. He started at the Cancer Trials Centre in 2003 as Deputy Director and became Director in 2021. Previously he was one of the senior academics at the Wolfson Institute of Environmental & Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London. He has >30 years’ experience in the design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of clinical studies and systematic reviews, in a variety of disease areas including cancer treatments and diagnosis, adult and prenatal screening, and tobacco and health. This has included phase I-III clinical trials, major cohort/case-control studies, and large real-world data studies including the seminal genomics study in lung cancer TRAcking non-small cell lung Cancer Evolution through therapy (Rx). He has worked across all tumour and intervention types at the Trials Centre, been a key co-investigator on successful grant funding applications (>£138 million in total), published more than 200 journal articles and book chapters, and sole or first author of five textbooks.* He leads modules on evidence-based medicine and clinical trials for postgraduate courses at UCL and the London School of Economics. He is joint editor of the Journal of Medical Screening, and sits on the UK National Screening Committee (Adult Reference Group) and several grant funding review panels for the EU Commission (Horizon 2020 and EU4 Health programmes).

* including ‘Fast Facts: clinical trials in oncology’ by Karger 2020, and ‘A Concise Guide to Clinical Trials’, ‘A Concise Guide to Observational Studies’ and ‘How to write a grant application’ by Wiley/Blackwells.

Nicola Keat is the Scientific Operations Manager at the Cancer Research UK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre (CTC). She started at the CTC in September 2023. After completing a degree in Biological Sciences (with a placement year working at Novartis), Nicola moved into the research funding arena, working in the Clinical Trials Team at Cancer Research UK for nearly 10 years. In 2015, Nicola joined the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) as Head of Research Groups, providing leadership and strategic input into the activities of the NCRI’s Groups and initiatives, ensuring a collaborative approach to clinical research endeavours. As well as oversight of all patient involvement and Early Career Researcher Involvement in NCRI activities. In 2017, Nicola completed a Master of Business Administration with the Open University. Nicola provides high level oversight of the operational activities of the CTC and supports the strategic development of the unit. She leads the portfolio of trials in Gynaecological and Lung Cancers and the portfolio of advanced cell/gene therapy trials.

* including ‘Fast Facts: clinical trials in oncology’ by Karger 2020, and ‘A Concise Guide to Clinical Trials’, ‘A Concise Guide to Observational Studies’ and ‘How to write a grant application’ by Wiley/Blackwells.

Temi Adedoyin, BHSc Hons, MPH, QM-IAOCR, assumed the pivotal role of Clinical Trials Programme Lead at Cancer Research UK & UCL Clinical Trials Centre (CTC) in June 2023. With a career spanning over two decades, Temi has amassed a wealth of experience from diverse roles in Clinical Research across academic and NHS settings. During her tenure in NHS sites, she played a pivotal role in leading and motivating research teams while spearheading the development of robust processes to enhance the delivery of clinical research at these sites.

Temi's expertise traverses a broad spectrum of specialties, including Mental Health, Neurology, Oncology, Critical Care, and Infectious Diseases. In her current role, she provides overarching supervision of operational oversight at the CTC, actively driving its strategic goals forward. Temi leads the management of portfolios of trials in Haematological and Brain Cancers, while also overseeing trials in GU, GI, Sarcoma, and Head & Neck specialties. Her commitment lies in making clinical research accessible to marginalized and underrepresented communities, reflecting her passion for equitable healthcare access and inclusivity.

Louise Rusha has worked at the CRUK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre since 2010, managing the day-to-day running of the centre, HR, communications and providing support for its 120+ staff. Louise has over 20 years of administration, project management and communications experience and has previously worked in various events and project management roles.

Paul Kyriakides Joined the CRUK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre in 2006 as the IT Network Manager, managing the internal IT infrastructure and IT Network, supporting over 120 staff. With over 20 years of IT experience, he has led the transition from aging IT systems to a modern, virtualisation-based hybrid cloud environment, ensuring the smooth and continuous running of the internal clinical trial IT systems. Paul successfully completed Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification in 2000 and ITIL v3 certification in 2012 and has previously worked in various IT management roles ranging from health informatics, education and medical research.

Linda is an associate at the Cancer Trials Centre, PPI Manager for the Blood and Transplant Research Unit (BTRU) in Data Driven Transfusion Practice and delivers PPI trainings for the UCLH Biomedical Research Centre. Linda previously worked as PPI Lead at the BTRU in Stem Cells and Immunotherapies and at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.

Neil is an experienced patient advocate trying to help ensure that the patient voice is heard when designing and implementing research including clinical trials. He is a parent of a survivor of childhood cancer, and co-founder of a group of parents that have reviewed documentation for over 40 paediatric oncology trials. He is also passionate about ensuring the best treatment and clinicals trials are available to everyone including marginalised communities.

He also volunteers for the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) with an interest in supporting paediatric oncologists and paediatric oncology nurses in low resource settings.

Dr Mark Linch is an Associate Professor at University College London (UCL) Cancer Institute, where he leads the Urological Cancer Biology Group, and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist. Dr Linch trained in medical oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital (RMH), London. In 2012 he was awarded a PhD in Cancer Cell Biology from UCL and the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (LRI), now known as the Francis Crick Institute. He continued his post-doctoral studies at the LRI while also working as a Consultant Medical Oncologist at RMH. In 2014 Dr Linch moved to UCL to specialise in the clinical management and translational biology of prostate and bladder cancer. His research is focused on the immune biology of these cancers with a view to identifying rational immunotherapy combinations, predictive biomarkers and novel liquid biopsy strategies. He is chief investigator of a number national and international combination immunotherapy trials in bladder and prostate cancer (DURANCE, NEPTUNES, Pro-MERIT), is Chair of the UK Prostate Cancer 100,000 genome project group and is an inaugural member of the UK Bladder Cancer Translational Group. He is funded by the NIHR/BRC, CRUK, Rosetrees Trust, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Prostate Cancer UK and Sir Peter Wood.

Shibani Nicum is an Associate Professor in Medical Oncology and Honorary Consultant Oncologist at University College London. She specialises in the treatment of women with ovarian and other gynaecological cancers and is the Chair of the National Cancer Research Institute Gynaecological Group and Lead for Gynaecological Trials at the Cancer Research UK and UCL Cancer Trials Centre. Her research interests are in BRCA mutated cancers and the development of novel therapies in order to improve and personalise patient care. She is also the Chief Investigator of a number of international and national trials, including the ICON9 and OCTOVA trials.

Dr Dionysis Papadatos-Pastos is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at University College London Hospitals and The Princess Alexandra Hospital. He is a specialist thoracic oncologist, expert in the treatment of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and cancers of the thymus (thymoma and thymic carcinoma). Dr Papadatos-Pastos completed his undergraduate medical training in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, qualifying in 2002. He trained in medical oncology at Guy’s and St Thomas’, St George’s University Hospitals and The Royal Marsden. He has conducted formal research in oncology and completed his PhD thesis on prognostic and predictive biomarkers. He received the ASCO merit award in 2010. He is principal investigator on multiple clinical trials including early phase drug trials, one of the principal investigators for TRACERx (TRAcking non-small cell lung Cancer Evolution through therapy Rx) and a collaborator in the PEACE (Posthumous tissuE donAtion in CancEr) study for which he is a member of the Governance Board.

Claire Roddie MD PhD is a Consultant Haematologist at UCLH and Associate Professor in Haematology at UCL with a particular interest in adoptive cell therapies. She completed an Immunotherapy PhD at UCL with Karl Peggs and subsequently undertook a clinician scientist role with Martin Pule to develop the UCL CAR-T program. Claire’s current role involves pre-clinical development of novel cell therapy projects, GMP manufacture and clinical trial design. She is also responsible for the advanced therapies clinical service at UCLH. She is currently leading several clinical trials, including the Phase I CAROUSEL trial on CD19-targeting CAR T-cells for relapsed/refractory primary CNS lymphoma.

Dr Shiu is a Consultant in the Gastrointestinal Oncology Unit at University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Associate Professor at the UCL Cancer Institute. He qualified at Guys and St Thomas’ Medical School, training in medical oncology at the Royal Free Hospital and UCLH. He completed his PhD in integrative genomic profiling of cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital. He also attained a post CCT research fellowship at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL.

His clinical research interests include immunotherapy for GI malignancies and Cancer of Unknown Primary. He is Chair of the NCRI MUO-CUP Workstream and a member of the NCRI Colorectal Advanced and Adjuvant Disease Subgroup. He is a collaborator in the PEACE (Posthumous tissuE donAtion in CancEr) study, and a member of the Gastrointestinal Oncology and CUP subgroups at UCL Cancer Institute/Francis Crick Institute. He is the Principal Investigator of the UCL/UCLH Gastrointestinal Cancer Translational Research Biobank.

Dr Townsend is a consultant haematologist specialising in lymphoma at University College London Hospitals where he leads a programme of early phase clinical trials in lymphoproliferative disorders. He is an active member of the national low grade, and high grade lymphoma NCRN sub groups and is national Chief Investigator for 3 ongoing early phase clinical trials. He was an author on the BSH Follicular Lymphoma national guidelines 2020 and Hodgkin Lymphoma guideline 2021. He has research interests in the lymphoma microenvironment and outcomes of patients with haematological malignancies on ICU.

Karin Straathof (Associate Professor in tumour immunology and consultant paediatric oncologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital) specialises in the development and clinical translation of CAR T cell therapies for childhood cancer. She leads the clinical trial work package in the NexTGen Cancer Grand Challenge team and is co-lead of the paediatric cancer theme in the CRUK City of London Centre. Her research program includes CAR target identification and tumour microenvironment interrogation which inform the design of next generation engineered T cells for childhood solid tumours.