Scientific Advisors

Dr. Danila served as the principal investigator (PI) for “Circulating Tumor Cells as Biomarkers for Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer: Developing Assays for Androgen Receptor Signaling Pathway,” which focused on analysing CTCs from patients with metastatic prostate cancer for molecular biomarkers predictive of tumour sensitivity to targeted treatments. Funding for the research was provided by the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, Prostate Cancer Research Program, Physician Research Training Award. Dr. Danila received his MD from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania and was a research fellow, intern and resident at Massachusetts General Hospital prior to joining Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2005.

Brings to the SAB expertise in – development and adoption of CTCs as predictive biomarkers to help clinicians select appropriate treatments, prostate cancer and wide network of contacts in the field.

Dr. Hvichia played a lead role in advancing the Parsortix technology by working in the laboratory and introducing multiple solutions and innovations. Dr. Hvichia also focused on collecting and analysing data from the microfluidic cassette, instrument and assay development process, resulting in ANGLE’s first peer-reviewed publication in the International Journal of Cancer (IJC) in January 2016. This publication made the prestigious list of 10 most popular cancer publications in recent years, presented at World Cancer Congress 2018 by renowned publisher Wiley and International Journal of Cancer.

Brings to the SAB expertise in – microfluidics and biochips with ongoing thoughts and advice on development of the Parsortix system.

Dr. Khoury is a leader in translational research focused on hematolymphoid neoplasia (a class of tumours that affect the blood, bone marrow, and organs of the immune system). Dr. Khoury has authored over 275 publications, many in prestigious peer-review scientific and medical journals, two textbooks, and several book chapters. He has trained numerous clinical and research fellows. Dr. Khoury is an active member of the College of American Pathologists and has lectured extensively at various institutions and conferences globally.

Brings to the SAB expertise in – diagnostic pathology and cytological and morphological analysis of cancer cells.

Prof. Newland was previously chair of the Diagnostic Assessment Programme for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and of the NICE Sifting Group for cancer drugs. Prof. Newland has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Institute of Cancer Research from 1995 until 2003 and Chair of the London Cancer New Drugs Group since 2002. Prof. Newland was a member of the National Chemotherapy Implementation Group until 2018 and a member of the Expert Reference Group on Cancer Care in London, the National Cancer Outcomes Advisory Group and the Human Genome Strategy Group. Prof. Newland is co-chair of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts for In-Vitro Diagnostic Devices (SAGE-IVD) and recently completed the five year review of the WHO Cancer programme. He is currently a non-executive director of the UK Accreditation Service and chairs their Healthcare Forum.

 

Brings to the SAB expertise in – haematology, pathology, cancer diagnostics, accreditation and NICE.

Some related publications include ‘Circulating tumor cells, disease progression, and survival in metastatic breast cancer in the New England Journal of Medicine’; “Circulating tumor cells are associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism in metastatic breast cancer patients” in the British Journal of Cancer; and “Circulating tumor cells in metastatic inflammatory breast cancer” published in the Annals of Oncology. Dr. Reuben received his PhD in immunology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and his MBA from University of Houston, Houston, Texas. Dr. Reuben completed his research fellowship in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with Evan M. Hersh, MD and Emil J Freireich, MD, as mentors.

 

Brings to the SAB expertise in – knowledge and understanding of CTCs, breast cancer and wide network of contacts in the field.

Mr Shaw leads several research programmes focused on current weaknesses in the way prostate cancer is treated and is interested in exploring the role novel biomarkers may play in advancing practice in these areas. Mr Shaw is currently chief investigator for two NIHR portfolio studies investigating 1) the effects of refinements to robotic surgery and 2) the use of drugs to prevent progression in men on active surveillance for prostate cancer. Mr Shaw is lead surgeon for the largest robotic surgery team in the UK at UCLH. Mr Shaw is known for his innovative approach and commitment to quality assurance.

Brings to the SAB expertise in – prostate cancer diagnostics and treatment.

Dr. Stanway was engaged in raising the scientific profile of Commercial Partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry; his efforts have led to several significant partnerships and alliances. Dr. Stanway has also driven internal Commercial Partnerships projects addressing cancer immunomodulation bringing together different technologies and expertise leading to a compound progressing towards a Phase 1 trial. The annual research spend of Cancer Research UK is in the region of £375 million and Commercial Partnerships has annual revenues of approximately £50 million. Prior to becoming Chief Scientific Officer of Commercial Partnerships, Dr. Stanway established and led the drug discovery and biotherapeutic discovery activity within Cancer Research UK, which has been or is now partnered with AstraZeneca, FORMA Therapeutics, BMS, Artios, Ono Pharmaceutical and Merck KGaA.

Brings to the SAB expertise in – cancer drug discovery and development and major pharma networks.

As VP of Sequencing at the New York Genome Center (NYGC) from 2014-2017, Dr. Swerdlow directed the Technology Innovation group and managed the production and clinical laboratory facilities (with about 30 Illumina DNA sequencers). Prior to NYGC, Dr. Swerdlow was Head of Research and Development for the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK (2008-2014). In that role, Dr. Swerdlow directed the R&D department and helped build the Sanger Institute’s next-generation DNA-sequencing production facility into one of the world’s largest. Previously, Dr. Swerdlow was the Chief Technology Officer of Dolomite Ltd., a leader in microfluidics and microfabrication. Prior to Dolomite, Dr. Swerdlow was an inventor of the core technology relating to NGS at Solexa Ltd., a company which he joined in 2000 when it had only three employees. From then until 2006, as Senior Director of Research, Dr. Swerdlow helped launch Solexa’s first product, the Genome Analyzer DNA sequencing platform. At Solexa, Dr. Swerdlow was responsible for instrument engineering, integration of the next-generation DNA sequencing system and early applications work, along with assisting in the development of many of the system’s biochemical components. Dr. Swerdlow was a key member of the Senior Management team that delivered Solexa’s first genome sequence, an end-to-end proof-of-principle. Following its NASDAQ listing, Solexa was acquired by Illumina Inc. for US$600 million and Solexa’s technology became the core of Illumina’s world leading NGS products.

Brings to the SAB expertise in – next generation sequencing, genomics, operational management and system integration.

Prof. Venkitaraman’s research has contributed fundamentally to our understanding of how cancer is suppressed by genes that maintain the integrity of DNA in the human genome. His laboratory first discovered that mutations in the breast and ovarian cancer gene, BRCA2, provoke genome instability leading to carcinogenesis. In his current roles, Prof. Venkitaraman aims to achieve a deeper understanding of the steps that underlie carcinogenesis to find new strategies to intercept cancer development before the disease reaches an advanced and hard-to-treat stage. To help translate such fundamental insights to clinical practice, Prof. Venkitaraman has worked with colleagues from many different disciplines to develop new approaches for the discovery and early development of next-generation medicines. He has developed new technology platforms for therapeutics discovery that have led to serial Cambridge University spin-out companies like PhoreMost.

In his previous roles, Prof. Venkitaraman held the Ursula Zoellner Professorship of Cancer Research at the University of Cambridge from 1998-2020, where he was Director of the Medical Research Council’s Cancer Unit and Joint Director of the Medical Research Council/Hutchison Research Centre from 2006-2019. Prof. Venkitaraman was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, London, in 2001, and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) European Academy, Heidelberg, in 2004.

Brings to the SAB expertise in – cancer cell biology and personalised cancer care.