Our students joined @icbcdt.bsky.social for a 4 day #HumanCentredDesign & Human Factors Engineering course at Madingley Hall. Through workshops, presentations & case studies, they explored how human-centred approaches can shape medical device development. Thanks to We are Human for a great week!
CRUK Convergence Science Centre
@crukconvergence.bsky.social
Bringing together engineering, physical sciences, life sciences and medicine to address key questions in cancer research across @icr.ac.uk and @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social convergencesciencecentre.ac.uk
Our next #ConvergingOnCancer seminar explores new approaches to #GICancer, from understanding tumour biology to translating biomarkers into clinical practice. Join us to hear from:
What happens after #cancer treatment? Our Catalyst team has explored the “mirrored burden” of post-treatment follow-up through #CoDesign with cancer survivors and healthcare professionals, identifying ways clearer handovers could help prevent patients falling through the gaps. 📄 buff.ly/8knv5h2
🧠 How can #engineering new models of the human brain help us understand #BrainCancer? Join our next #ConvergingOnCancer International Seminar 📅3 September, 10-11am BST
Can AI predict cancer's next move? @stephensammut.bsky.social is using #AI to understand how #BreastCancer changes during treatment, personalising #Cancer care. 👉 buff.ly/P9vBRKq This is the first in our Assistant Director Research Spotlight series. Follow for more from the Centre. @icr.ac.uk
Behind every breakthrough are the tools that make it possible. New publication from Prof Paul French and colleagues at @imperialphysics.bsky.social describes an improved open-source optical autofocus system for microscopy, helping make high-quality imaging more accessible. 📖 buff.ly/9piqkZU
Quantitative evaluation of LED‐based optical autofocus module
We report an improved version of the open-source optical autofocus (OAF) module (openAF) for light microscopy, replacing the superluminescent diode (SLD) with a multimode-optical fibre-coupled LED…
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
How can nanotechnology deliver chemotherapy + immunotherapy together? 💊🤖 Centre #PhD student Elina Tanskanen with @patelgroup.bsky.social and Jun Ishihara at @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social developed a nanoparticle that co-delivers doxorubicin and IL-12 mRNA. 📖 buff.ly/KStmyG5
Researchers from @ucl.ac.uk, @cam.ac.uk and @icr.ac.uk combined computational modelling, #CancerBiology and clinical expertise to create a 'virtual tumour' model for non-small cell #LungCancer. @cruk-cityoflondon.bsky.social @crukcamcentre.bsky.social
New study in @pnasnexus.org shows tiny blood vessel structures can influence how #cancer spreads. When clusters of tumour cells pass through narrow vessels, branching points act like mechanical “splitting zones,” pulling them apart into smaller groups or single cells. 🔗 buff.ly/mP276vT
🔬 Join us online for our next Future Leaders Seminar on 17 June (12–1pm). Hear Centre PhD students share their research and experiences of working across disciplines as #ConvergenceScience researchers. Open to members across @icr.ac.uk and @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
Our students took part in a #PatientEngagement Workshop, sharing their research and hearing directly from patients. The conversations were a valuable reminder that effective #ScienceCommunication is about listening as well as explaining. Thank you to everyone involved. 🙏
🧬How can #genomics help us uncover cancer's vulnerabilities? Join us to hear how novel genomic approaches are revealing new insights into #cancer evolution and identifying potential therapeutic targets. #ConvergingOnCancer International Seminar 📅 2 July, 10-11am BST
New preprint from researchers at @imperialsci.bsky.social and @icr.ac.uk introduces CanonicalTockySeq - exploring how #TCells change over time during #immunotherapy to better understand treatment responses. ➡️ buff.ly/HUSjiDM @monotockylab.bsky.social @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social #CRUKFunded
Highlights of Centre supported research featured at #AACR26 🔬Includes: safer and more targeted therapies, #ProstateCancer drug development, liquid biopsy approaches to monitoring treatment response, improving #immunotherapies for solid tumours, and early detection. Find out more ➡️ buff.ly/CBTKuV6
🤔 How can compounds released by immune cells help us better understand #cancer? Exciting to see Centre-funded Clinical Research Fellow Nader Bedwani as first author on a newly published scoping review on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by immune cells. @metabolomicsj.bsky.social
Great to see Centre-funded Clinical Research Fellow Nick Waldron as co-first author on a new review in the British Journal of Cancer as part of their Emerging Leaders series 👏
👏 Great to see our Centre students Aria, Maja and Killian supporting the YEAH! Careers event with an #AI-themed workshop for Year 8 & 9 pupils. These #WideningParticipation activities help give students early exposure to healthcare and #STEMCareers as they start thinking about GCSE choices.
🤔 How can #ConvergenceScience help unlock new treatments for #ChildhoodCancers? Our next #ConvergingOnCancer seminar will explore how researchers are advancing #PrecisionMedicine and targeted #CancerBiology to better understand and treat #PaediatricCancers.
💡Derisking Cancer Innovation We welcomed a delegation from @arpa-h.bsky.social the US federal funding agency mandated to accelerate high-impact biomedical breakthroughs, to the Centre where they met members of our Catalyst team, Patrick Kierkegaard, Bowen Su and @arnaudjlegrand.bsky.social
Convergence science at scale: From #CancerResearch to #AI and sustainability, our Centre and @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social’s School of #ConvergenceScience are working in complementary ways to accelerate impact, tackling complex challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration. 👉 buff.ly/ot17sBx
🔬 New research reveals a dual‑drug strategy targeting a key weakness in cancer’s RNA processing Scientists at @icr.ac.uk & @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social show how two existing drugs can be repurposed to disrupt RNA splicing - a process cancer cells depend on to survive.
#AACR2026 Do not miss this poster from @udaibanerji.bsky.social and team, involving work from one of our CRUK-funded PhD students, Brian Cunningham.
At #AACR26. Leveraging cancer stroma to deliver anticancer drugs. Fibroblast co-culture experiments in PDAC and sarcoma cell lines to study the role of AVA6000 a FAP activated doxorubicin prodrug as a single agent and in combination. @icr.ac.uk @crukconvergence.bsky.social
If you’re attending #AACR2026, don’t miss this poster from @udaibanerji.bsky.social and team, showcasing Centre‑supported high‑impact research from the Drug Development Unit at the ICR and The Royal Marsden
At #AACR26 Poster 6457.CD137 agonist. Exciting responses in breast cancer and high spec pharmacodynamic imaging showing decreasing metabolism (FDG-PET) but increasing lymphocytic infiltration (CD8 PET). @icr.ac.uk @royalmarsden.org @crukconvergence.bsky.social @ecmc-uk.bsky.social @nihr.bsky.social
🔬 How is #AI changing decisions in #cancer care? Our next #ConvergingOnCancer seminar explores how data, imaging & AI are helping doctors better understand and respond to cancer.
💡 New research is shining a light on the hidden costs of living with and beyond breast cancer in the UK. At the 15th European Breast Cancer Conference, Patrick Kierkegaard, (the Centre's Implementation Science Lead) spoke to the Daily Mail about findings from the CASCARA programme.
Since COVID, lateral flow tests are widely used in healthcare but could they detect #OvarianCancer? New research from our PhD student Aida Abdelwahed, supervised by Prof Molly Stevens and Dr Srdjan Saso, explores how #nanotechnology could test multiple biomarkers at once. 🔗 buff.ly/hRGAG8s
🔬 How can we better harness the immune system to fight cancer? Our next #ConvergingOnCancer seminar will explore how researchers are enhancing anti-tumour immune responses through cross-disciplinary approaches. 📅 16th April, 10-11am
Great to see CSC students Aria, Saki & Shania inspiring the next generation at an @icr.ac.uk careers event 👏 6th-form students visited labs, explored #CancerResearch careers, and heard directly from scientists 🧪 Huge thanks to everyone who took part, these moments really help open up #STEM pathways
Does routine sample preservation change the metals inside breast tumours? A new study in @pubs.acs.org featuring Centre-funded #PhD student Amy Lovejoy found key metals remain largely intact after processing - meaning archived samples can still reveal important biology. 🔗 buff.ly/cWYGMiX
Know a teacher with curious sixth-form students? Please share 📣 The Science in Medicine School Teams Prize @imperialnhli.bsky.social invites student teams to develop a creative, science-informed idea that could help address inequalities in #cancer risk or access to care.