Beating bowel cancer together

Current research projects

We partner with leading clinicians, institutions and academics across the UK. You can find out more about current research projects below.

a headshot of Dr Alex Greenhough against a brick wall

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.

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A headshot of Dr Annie Baker against a plain grey background

Dr Annie Baker

Institute of Cancer Research, London

Dr Baker is looking to predict which patient with inflammatory bowel disease can safely only have part of their bowel removed when precancerous changes are seen.

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An image of Dr Christina Dobson smiling into camera against a plain light green background

Dr Christina Dobson

Newcastle University

Dr Dobson is looking at which people who visit their GP with possible bowel cancer symptoms are less likely to return a Faecal Immunochemical Test, and why.

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a headshot of Dr Claire Palles in a lab coat in a lab

Dr Claire Palles

University of Birmingham

Dr Palles and team will look in detail at the genes of younger bowel cancer patients to help better identify people at higher risk of the disease in the future. 

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a headshot of Professor David Jayne against a plain wall

Professor David Jayne

University of Leeds

Professor Jayne is the first surgical research Chair to be appointed as part of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS Eng) Surgical Trials Initiative. His work will drive forward surgical clinical trial research for bowel cancer.

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a headshot of Professor Eva Morris against a plain wall

Professor Eva Morris

University of Oxford

Professor Morris and her team will look at data from hospitals in England to identify cases where bowel cancers went undetected during a colonoscopy.

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a split image featuring Drs Theodoratou (right) and Rufini (left). Dr Rufini is against a plain background. Dr Theodoratou is standing against a railing in front of a cityscape

Dr Evropi Theodoratou and Dr Alessandro Rufini

Universities of Edinburgh and Leicester

Drs Theodoratou and Rufini are investigating whether it’s possible to find DNA from cancer cells in poo samples. If successful, this technique could potentially be used to improve bowel cancer screening and diagnosis.

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a photo of Professor Joanne Edwards and some of her group in a lab

Professor Joanne Edwards

University of Glasgow

Professor Edwards and her team are looking at the changes cancers go through when they spread to other organs.

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a headshot of Professor Lesley Smith against a purple and pink background

Professor Lesley Smith 

University of Hull

The number of people from the South Asian community that take part in bowel cancer screening in the UK is low, at around 30%. Professor Smith, along with colleagues at Oxford Brookes University and Liverpool John Moores, will investigate reasons why uptake is low and begin to develop a new project that encourages more people to take part in screening.

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a headshot of Professor Mohammad Ilyas against a background of blinds

Professor Mohammad Ilyas

University of Nottingham

Professor Ilyas, in collaboration with colleagues from the Universities of Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh, will compare bowel cancer samples from younger people with samples from people aged over 50. They want to see if there are differences that might affect how quickly a tumour grows.

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A headshot of Professor Nathalie Juge against a plain background

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.

More info


Where our researchers are

We're proud to have researchers from a range of institutions across the UK working on bowel cancer research as part of our vision of a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer. Have a look at this map to see the different institutions involved.

Your support helps save lives. Donate now and help us ensure a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer.
Your support helps save lives. Donate now and help us ensure a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer.

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