Current research projects
We partner with leading clinicians, institutions and academics across the UK. You can find out more about current research projects below.
Dr Annie Baker and Professor Trevor Graham
Institute of Cancer Research, London and St Mark’s Hospital, London
Dr Baker and Professor Graham are developing a non-invasive way to predict bowel cancer risk in people who have inflammatory bowel disease.
Professor Andrew Beggs
University of Birmingham
Professor Andrew Beggs at the University of Birmingham is testing a new way to diagnose inherited syndromes which increase bowel cancer risk, which could be faster and cheaper than the current testing.
Dr Christina Dobson
Newcastle University
Dr Dobson is investigating how young people are diagnosed with bowel cancer and the difficulties they can face reaching a diagnosis.
Dr Dobson is also looking at which people who visit their GP with possible bowel cancer symptoms are less likely to return a Faecal Immunochemical Test, and why.
Dr Christina Dobson and Dr Laura Woods
Newcastle University
Dr Dobson, Dr Woods and their team are studying the barriers people may face when asked to complete a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) following a visit to their GP for symptoms of possible bowel cancer.
Professor Farhat Din
University of Edinburgh
Professor Farhat Din has been appointed as Scotland’s first Colorectal Cancer Surgical Research Chair. Her work will help to deliver better patient care for people with bowel cancer through research.
Dr Alex Greenhough
University of the West of England
Dr Greenhough and his collaborators are investigating ways to improve how well chemoradiotherapy treatment works for patients with rectal cancer.
Mr Robert Jones
Aintree University Hospital and University of Liverpool
Mr Jones is the UK's first Surgical Specialty Lead in Advanced Colorectal Cancer, encouraging more surgical research and new surgical clinical trials.
Professor Nathalie Juge
Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich
Professor Juge is investigating if a new blood test could be used, alongside the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT), to detect bowel cancer more accurately.
Professor Mark Lawler and Dr Ethna McFerran
Queen’s University Belfast
Professor Mark Lawler and Dr Ethna McFerran at Queen’s University Belfast is trialling adding a deadline to the bowel screening invitation letter, to see if this increases how many people complete their screening test.
Dr Nagore De Leon
University of Oxford
Dr Nagore De Leon at the University of Oxford is searching for new drugs that can stop precancerous polyps from progressing into bowel cancer, particularly in inherited conditions that cause the growth of many bowel polyps.
Professor Katie Robb and Dr Stephen McSorley
University of Glasgow
Professor Robb, Dr McSorley and their team are investigating the barriers to surveillance colonoscopy faced by people in areas with more deprivation.
Professor Suzanne Scott and Dr Yin Zhou
Queen Mary University of London
Professor Scott and Dr Zhou are analysing data on people who develop bowel cancer in the years after tests for a suspected cancer come back clear.
Dr Vladimir Teif and Dr Ralf Zwacka
University of Essex
Dr Teif, Dr Zwacka and their team are developing a new blood test to detect early stage bowel cancer.
Dr James Whitworth
University of Cambridge
Dr Whitworth is studying special cases of Lynch syndrome that would be missed by standard genetic testing.