Professor Mitch Dowsett
Professor Mitch Dowsett received his Ph.D. from Chester Beatty Cancer Research Institute at London University. He was appointed as Professor of Biochemical Endocrinology in 1994 and been the Head of the Academic Department of Biochemistry at the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Trust since 1990.Professor Dowsett is an active member of numerous cancer committees including the following: chairman of the NCRI Translational Clinical Studies Group that aims to enhance the value of translational research in the UK’s national portfolio of phase III clinical trials in cancer; Scientific Advisory Boards of Cancer Research Ireland, the Danish Cancer Institute and Breast Cancer Campaign; member of TRICC (CRUK’s Translational Research in Clinical Trials Committee); member of the executive committee and co-chair of the Pathology Subcommittee of the HERA trial; member of the Steering Committee and chairman of the Pathology Sub-committee of the ATAC trial (the largest trial of adjuvant therapy conducted in breast cancer); member of the Steering Committee of the IBIS1 and RAZOR chemoprevention trials and the UK HRT trial.
Professor Dowsett’s research focuses exclusively on breast cancer and predominantly on hormonal aspects of the disease. He has been closely involved with the development of aromatase inhibitors over a period of 20 years. These drugs have been shown to have superior efficacy to tamoxifen. His lab has interests in biomarkers for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer.
He is author of over 350 published papers related to breast cancer.
Dr Lesley-Ann Martin
Dr Lesley-Ann Martin received her Ph.D. from Reading University and after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute for Animal Health Pirbright, joined Prof. Nick Lemoine as a senior research fellow at the ICRF forming part of the team that carried out the first UK breast cancer gene therapy trial. Dr Martin joined Professor Mitch Dowsett’s department in 1999 and took the post of group leader of molecular endocrinology in 2001. The groups research focuses on the molecular mechanisms associated with resistance to endocrine therapy and their recent findings have led to the initiation of two clinical trials for the treatment of breast cancer patients.