Professor James O’Connor
Lab Group Leader and Professor of Radiology
“I qualified as a clinical radiologist and also have a PhD in advanced image analysis. I have held two CRUK clinician scientist fellowships and co-lead the CRUK National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator which oversees cancer imaging biomarker translation within the UK.”
Dr Denis Alferez
Post-doctoral Research Associate
“My research interests are in preclinical cancer models and metastatic spread, particularly how the microenvironment of metastatic sites support cancer cell colonisation and growth. A current focus is on identifying signalling pathways between cancer cells and normal supporting tissue, and how these signals we can sustain metastatic cell growth.”
Dr Michael Berks
Post-doctoral Research Associate
“My main areas of expertise are in machine learning, statistical modelling and software development, with a particular interest in translating new methods in computer vision. I manage the lab’s code base, which comprises an extensive suite of programs in C++, Matlab and python for analysing MR images and their associated data.”
Susan Cheung
Technician
“I perform the data analysis for clinical trials and research projects. This involves sorting and processing the DICOM data from the MRI scanners and then running mathematical model fitting tools on the images.”
Dr Anubhav Datta
Clinical Research Training Fellow
“As a clinical radiologist, I am interested in translational research within cancer MRI. My clinical research fellowship at the University of Manchester aims to improve our understanding of tumour hypoxia in response to radiotherapy. In particular, the project focuses on tumour imaging genomics and imaging the tumour microenvironment.”
Michael Dubec
PhD Student and NHS Clinical Scientist
“I am interested in incorporating MRI methods into the radiotherapy workflow, for treatment planning, assessing treatment response and for image guidance on the MR-Linac. I currently assess radiation induced lung toxicity using oxygen enhanced MRI (OE-MRI) and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI).”
Isabella Fornacon-Wood
PhD Student
“My PhD project centres around radiomics, the method of extracting high-dimensional quantitative data from medical images of tumours to create a radiographic phenotype. It involves investigating standardization issues with radiomics and exploring radiomics biomarkers in lung cancer, specifically in small cell lung cancer and advanced non-small cell lung cancer.”
Dr Penny Hubbard Cristinacce
Research Fellow
“I am an MR physicist with expertise in the development and validation of acquisition and analysis methods for the assessment of quantitative imaging biomarkers. I have experience in a wide range MRI techniques; including diffusion, arterial spin labelling (ASL), dynamic-contrast enhanced (DCE) and oxygen-enhanced (OE) MRI”
Dr Grazyna Lipowska-Bhalla
Post-doctoral Research Associate
“I’m a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in cancer immunology and immunotherapy. My current focus is on identification and evaluation of MRI biomarkers for mapping anti-tumour response to immunotherapy–radiotherapy combinations.”
Dr Ross Little
Project and Quality Manager
“I am interested in the application of MR-based quantitative imaging biomarker acquisition methods for measuring microvascular and hypoxia characteristics. I project manage the trials within the lab and oversee the quality system that ensures robust analyses are delivered, both locally and nationally for the CRUK National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator (NCITA).”
Elizabeth Openshaw
Research Project Manager
“As a science communicator and project manager, I facilitate the communications of the lab group and support our public engagement projects. I also act as the training coordinator for the CRUK National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator (NCITA) project, organising bespoke webinars and training workshops”
Dr Paul Tar
Post-doctoral Research Associate
“My background is in statistical modelling and machine learning, with an emphasis on image analysis. I have had wide experiences with imaging from planetary data to cancer studies. As well as being an active researcher, I have a core role in the CRUK National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator (NCITA).”