{"id":27816,"date":"2022-01-21T09:52:43","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T09:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/?p=23967"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:14:04","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:14:04","slug":"acing-it-the-ambitious-early-career-researchers-driving-progress-in-cancer-early-detection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/acing-it-the-ambitious-early-career-researchers-driving-progress-in-cancer-early-detection\/","title":{"rendered":"Acing it: The ambitious early career researchers driving progress in cancer early detection"},"content":{"rendered":"
Seung Hyun Lee, Elspeth Davies, Hamish MacGregor and Lucie Gourmet<\/p>

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Untitled-design-7-300×168.png” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Untitled-design-7.png”><\/p>

Seung Hyun Lee, Elspeth Davies, Hamish MacGregor and Lucie Gourmet<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 2019, we launched our flagship early detection initiative, the International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection (ACED)<\/a>, to address the challenges in this critical area of unmet clinical need. Now entering its third year, the initiative is helping to drive the expansion of the early detection research community. We meet four inspiring ACED PhD students carrying out research that could transform the ways in which we diagnose cancer in the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Detecting cancer at an early stage has huge potential to save lives, and while we\u2019ve certainly made promising steps forward, meaningful progress over the years has been limited. Compared to more established fields of research, the study of early cancer biology has been historically underfunded with very few scientists and institutions prioritising it as an area of expertise.<\/p>\n

We think mankind deserves better, and, as one of the world\u2019s largest cancer research funders with extensive connections in the field of early detection research, we\u2019re uniquely placed to make a huge difference. That\u2019s why in 2019, thanks to our community of supporters, we established the International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection (ACED) \u2013 a \u00a355 million partnership between six world-renowned institutes and organisations. They are Cancer Research UK, the University of Cambridge, University College London and the University of Manchester in the UK, and the Canary Center at Stanford University and the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in the US. Through this major transatlantic alliance, scientists are working together at the forefront of technological innovation to translate research into realistic ways to improve cancer diagnosis. Importantly, their work aims to be implementable into health systems, so that it can meaningfully benefit people with cancer.<\/p>\n

Key to this is strengthening and expanding the early detection community by attracting the brightest early career researchers in the field. But not only that, we must also train and retain researchers by developing world-leading training and career development standards globally. As such, the alliance has established its own PhD programme that will enable students to benefit from ACED\u2019s unique structure and expertise. These students are co-supervised between centres, spending time at each, and will become the next generation of multidisciplinary experts in the field of early detection research.<\/p>\n

Now two years old, the alliance is at an exciting juncture and starting to appoint these promising early career researchers. We spoke to four of them to hear about why it\u2019s an inspiring time to be working in early detection research.<\/p>\n

Seung Hyun Lee<\/strong><\/h2>\n

ACED clinical PhD student at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute\"Elspeth<\/strong><\/h2>\n

ACED PhD student at the University of Cambridge<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy ACED colleagues are often surprised when I tell them that I\u2019m a social anthropologist. I study the social, historical and technological contexts in which diseases \u2013 or risk of diseases \u2013 are diagnosed. I trace how people live with these diagnoses, having been transformed from \u2018people\u2019 into \u2018patients\u2019. My project involves considering what the social costs and benefits of new diagnostic technologies might be.<\/p>\n

Having been diagnosed with an early stage melanoma during my teenage years, the alliance\u2019s efforts to enact a \u2018stage shift\u2019 in cancer diagnosis were particularly intriguing to me. My work considers the factors that have prompted this international move towards early detection. Due to my own experiences, I\u2019m interested in how people live following an early cancer diagnosis, and in exploring the social navigation of lives lived \u2018at risk\u2019.<\/p>\n

Instead of using standardised questionnaires or surveys where researchers might \u2013 overtly or unwittingly \u2013 prejudge what is relevant, anthropologists aim to listen instead to what matters to the people we study, and to consider their experiences in context. While cancer research scientists tend to detach people\u2019s social worlds from their objects of study \u2013 such as cells \u2013 as part of being objective, social anthropologists seek to reattach these cells to the bodies, people and social worlds in which they exist. Doing so is important for understanding key issues in the field of early detection, including health inequalities: in other words, whose cancers are diagnosed early, and why as well as how this is the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamish MacGregor<\/strong><\/h2>\n

ACED PhD student at the University of CambridgeHamish MacGregor<\/p>

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Hamish-M-267×300.png” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Hamish-M.png” loading=”lazy” class=”alignright size-medium wp-image-23971″ src=”https:\/\/34p2k13bwwzx12bgy13rwq8p-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Hamish-M-267×300.png” alt width=”267″ height=”300″ srcset=”https:\/\/34p2k13bwwzx12bgy13rwq8p-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Hamish-M-267×300.png 267w, https:\/\/34p2k13bwwzx12bgy13rwq8p-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Hamish-M-150×168.png 150w, https:\/\/34p2k13bwwzx12bgy13rwq8p-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Hamish-M.png 318w” sizes=”(max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px”><\/strong><\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m interested in the application of physical and mathematical principles to biological systems. Through the ACED PhD programme, I discovered a fascinating collaborative project between two labs in Cambridge. My project focuses on somatic mutations in the blood \u2013 these mutations are acquired after you\u2019re born, rather than being inherited from your parents. Somatic mutations can cause cells to divide more frequently, leading to populations of cells that expand and take over. I\u2019m investigating the dynamics of this process in young people and am seeking to understand how it interacts with our existing understanding of genetic cancer risk, hopefully leading to more accurate assessments of cancer susceptibility.<\/p>

Since the start of my project, I\u2019ve been collaborating with colleagues in the US. Access to data from different global populations is vital for epidemiological research, and the international nature of ACED should encourage this. Although COVID-19 has limited travel opportunities, I\u2019m still hoping to make it to the US at some point during my studies.<\/p>

I\u2019m very grateful for the philanthropic support the programme has received. My research relies heavily on data from large and detailed studies, and with DNA sequencing costs falling continually it\u2019s clear that money donated now can go further than ever in helping to improve cancer outcomes.\u201d<\/p>

Lucie Gourmet<\/strong><\/h2>

ACED PhD student at University College LondonMore on this topic<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSurvival for pancreatic cancer has hardly improved for decades. This is largely because it\u2019s very difficult to detect, meaning it\u2019s usually diagnosed at a late stage when treatment options are limited. I believe that finding ways to detect abnormal cells in the pancreas before they develop into cancer is the best chance we have of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43451,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27816\/revisions\/43451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}