CRUK Convergence Science Centre

Last week we hosted our Convergence Science Centre Annual Symposium. This year our theme focussed on precision medicine 🎯 and the use of data and AI in cancer research 📈. Thanks to the support of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), we're able to provide this opportunity for researchers across Imperial College London, The Institute of Cancer Research and our partner institutions to come together and showcase their latest work in convergence science. ✨ Thank you to our brilliant keynote speaker Prof Kanaga Sabapathy from Nanyang Technological University Singapore for presenting his work on 'targeting the un-targetable'. Thanks also to our chairs Prof Iain McNeish and Prof Kristian Helin for guiding us through our fantastic line up of speakers: ➡️ Anthea Monod demonstrated how maths can be applied to leukaemia research ➡️ Manuel Salto-Tellez highlighted the benefits of AI and multimodal data ➡️ Festenstein, Richard showed us how data from motion capture suits can predict disease progression ➡️ Elizabeth Flittner, a Convergence Science Centre Non-Clinical PhD student, presented her research on barcodes to decipher cancer evolution ➡️ Christina Fotopoulou emphasised the importance of understanding biological aspects of gynaecological cancers when it comes to predicting surgical outcomes ➡️ Cathrin Brisken, MD PhD demonstrated the importance of hormones for breast cancer prevention ➡️ Rachael Natrajan showcased her research relating to the genetics behind therapy resistant breast cancer We also had the privilege of premiering a video that highlighted the lived experience of those with pancreatic cancer and the urgent need for early diagnostic tests, developed by our Catalyst Team lead, Dr Patrick Kierkegaard with support from Pancreatic Cancer UK. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the day, we're especially grateful to our colleagues at the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre for their help with organising the event! 🖱️ See our website for a full summary of the event 👉 http://bit.ly/4hYqBcN

It's important to understand and predict how cancer cells may change as a tumour develops or as it responds to treatment. This field of research is known as cancer plasticity and evolution. This is an example of convergence science as it uses disciplines such as cancer biology 🧫 , mathematical modelling 📐, or genetic engineering 🧬. Join us online for our next Converging on Cancer International Seminar which will focus on Cancer Plasticity and Evolution When: Thursday 6th March 10-11am GMT Speakers: Prof Luis Arnes (BRIC, Copenhagen) and Dr Marco Bezzi (ICR). This seminar series brings together researchers from our partners across Europe and Singapore 🌎 to present their work and how they use convergence science to answer cancer-related questions. Members from our collaborating organisations can register to receive the joining link, see here for more details 🖱️ https://bit.ly/4kfQrKG

Thoroughly enjoyed the CRUK Convergence Science Centre annual symposium last week! All the speakers gave incredible talks and was great talking with all the attendees!

🎉 Congratulations to our Centre supported student, Joseph Broomfield, for completing his PhD!

CRUK Convergence Science Centre Human organoid facility and biobank team with the scientific director Axel Behrens at the annual symposium.

Earlier this week I attended the CRUK Convergence Science Centre's Annual Symposium. It was fascinating to hear from a range of speakers about their multi-disciplinary research and the importance of using data to develop precision medicine. I also had the opportunity to present a poster on my final year project, which has been supervised by Dr Patrick Kierkegaard and Bowen Su, MD PhD. In this, I have been using big data to investigate the effect of cancer treatment and socioeconomic factors on the mental health of head and neck cancer and neuro-oncology patients. It was incredibly insightful to discuss my work with research experts as I approach the final stages of this research project.

A great day learning about the collaborative research at the CRUK Convergence Science Centre Annual Symposium. Thank you to the centre for the invite and huge thanks to Sarah Harman our lay member for joining us!

Today our Research Team are at the CRUK Convergence Science Centre Annual Symposium. We’re also delighted to be joined by Sarah, a member of our Research Involvement Network. We're looking forward to hearing how convergence science is empowering innovations and driving forward progress in cancer research, including laying the groundwork for faster adoption of new tests for #PancreaticCancer. Find out more about our research focused on improving the early detection of pancreatic cancer on our website: https://bit.ly/3WBT7IY

Therapeutic ultrasound is a prime example of convergence science - using the physics behind high frequency waves and applying it to biological systems to better diagnose, monitor and even target specific tumour sites.   At the CRUK Convergence Science Centre, we support research harvesting the power of ultrasound technologies such as the ACTIVATE clinical trial, through our investment in the Drug Development Unit at the Institute of Cancer Research/Royal Marsden Hospital. This study is looking at using acoustic cluster therapy (ACT) to treat certain types of metastatic cancer. 👉 https://bit.ly/4jidUKA If you're a researcher at Imperial College London or The Institute of Cancer Research you can register to attend our internal online seminar on Thursday 16th January, 3-4pm. We will hear from Dr Sophie Morse who will present some of her latest research on therapeutic ultrasound against brain tumours and Prof Jeff Bamber who will give an overview of new ultrasound tools for cancer research, diagnosis and treatment from his research group. More details here 👉https://bit.ly/41J8lPh #ConvergingOnCancer #CancerResearch #Ultrasound #ConvergenceScience #Cancer  Department of Bioengineering

Public Engagement Workshop & Christmas Social 🎄 What a wonderful way to close out the year! Last week, we organised a Public Engagement Workshop specifically for our Convergence Science Centre students. It was an incredible opportunity to discuss how researchers can effectively communicate their work to the public and make a meaningful impact. The ideas and creativity shared by our students were truly inspiring! 💡✨ Many thanks to Samantha Howard for delivering the workshop. After the workshop, we kicked off the festive season with a Christmas Social - complete with a fun quiz designed by our very own in-house quiz master Sophie Peet! 🎉🎁 It was a perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and test our knowledge of all things Christmas and beyond. The quiz was full of laughs and friendly competition! A big thank you to all the PhD students who joined us for both the workshop and social. 🌟 Wishing everyone a joyful and peaceful holiday season! 🎅🎄   #CSCstudents #PublicEngagement #CRUK #ChristmasSocial #ResearchImpact #ConvergenceScience #PhD