Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute

21/04/2026

We were delighted to welcome The GlioBabes Podcast into our lab to record for a recent episode.

The CI's Dr Jessica Taylor joined the conversation to talk about her day-to-day role looking into childhood brain tumours in our Gilbertson Group and how researchers like her are working to create treatments that are both more effective and gentler for those living with cancer.

You can find the episode entitled "Live from The Lab, Dr Jessica Taylor | Cancer Research, Childhood Brain Tumours, Scientific Careers" by searching for The GlioBabes Podcast on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music.

17/04/2026

Nadia's journey into cancer biology might have its roots in a cartoon she watched as a child that showed how the body fights off colds and coughs. Now she works part-time as our Core Facilities Operations Specialist.

Every day she helps ensure the smooth running of our in-house services and labs, like microscopy, genomics and histopathology. Find out more about her role and her career story in the latest Behind the Lab Coat.

02/04/2026

Congratulations to Jackson Group PhD student Chen Gang Goh for earning a place as a finalist in the STEM for Britain competition.

Recently he was invited to the Houses of Parliament to present his research in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences category. He also had the chance to network with other finalists, and meet the judging panel and MPs including MP for Cambridge Daniel Zeichner.

Find out more about the competition: https://stemforbritain.org.uk/

31/03/2026

A new paper from the Ali Group has shed light on links between the menopause and cancer susceptibility. The team used advanced imaging techniques to study tissue from more than 500 women aged 15 to 86 years old.

The resulting map of over 3 million cells, sheds light on how the structure of breast tissue changes and how this micro-environment can allow cancer cells to thrive.

Find out more:

The map reveals how, as women age, the number of cells in their breast tissue decreases, and these in turn proliferate less, and the structure of breast tissue changes. This creates a ‘micro-environment’ in which cancer cells can thrive.

25/03/2026

A new paper from the Jackson Group in collaboration with the lab of Julian Stingele at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, sheds light on how the widely used leukaemia drug azacytidine works. Their work revealed that the drug disrupts how cancer cells make proteins, ultimately leading to their death.

Find out more: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1097276526001383

19/03/2026

Our event is coming up fast! Join us from 6pm on Thursday 26 March at The Pitt Building to hear about two recent clinical trials based on exciting discoveries made here in Cambridge.

🎟️Free tickets and all info: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-cancer-treatment-pipeline-inside-cambridges-bench-to-bedside-journey-tickets-1980870756757

17/03/2026

We are delighted to share the news that Dr Raza Ali has been promoted to Senior Group Leader for his leadership of the Ali Group and the progress of the team's vital work.

The Ali lab looks at the spatial biology of cancers, employing various techniques including computing and AI to explore what is going on inside a cell and disease progression is underpinned.

You can find out more about Dr Ali and his team's work on our website: https://www.cruk.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/ali/

16/03/2026

Congratulations to postgraduate researcher Dina Haddad from our Mair Group and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biology for winning this year's "Dance your PhD" competition in the Chemistry category.

You can watch Dina's entry via the link below where she explores Magnetic Flow through some impressive choreography and collaboration.

https://www.ceb.cam.ac.uk/news/dance-your-phd-26

12/03/2026

Our event is just two weeks away and there is still time to get your free ticket.

In our second preview video, Dr Michael Gill introduces his topic for the evening, CRISTAL-APC, which is a clinical trial of a drug aimed at improving quality of life for patients with pancreatic cancer.

All event information, including a link to secure your free ticket, can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-cancer-treatment-pipeline-inside-cambridges-bench-to-bedside-journey-tickets-1980870756757

09/03/2026

Atif became interested in a studying computing thanks to a cousin with similar interests. Now he works as a Research Associate in our Ali Group, building AI methods to scale up the data acquisition and analysis of cancer in a spatial context.

Find out more about his journey from computer science to cancer research in the latest episode of Behind the Lab Coat.

https://www.cruk.cam.ac.uk/behind-the-lab-coat/atif-khan-research-associate/

05/03/2026

Thinking about coming to our event on the cancer treatment pipeline?

Check out this preview video with one of our speakers, Professor Jason Carroll who will join us on the night to take you through the story of the PIONEER clinical trial.

Free tickets and all event info: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-cancer-treatment-pipeline-inside-cambridges-bench-to-bedside-journey-tickets-1980870756757

04/03/2026

Team ILLUMINE, featuring the Institute's Prof Greg Hannon and his research group, will receive up to $25m over five years to take on the challenge of the dark proteome.

Cancer Grand Challenges is a global research initiative, co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US, that identifies the toughest challenges in cancer research with awards of up to $25m.

With their award, Team ILLUMINE aims to unlock the potential of the cancer dark proteome by comprehensively mapping and characterising its function to uncover novel, potentially universal tumour antigens and develop innovative immunotherapies for hard-to-treat cancers.

Find out more: https://www.cruk.cam.ac.uk/news/hannon-group-joins-global-team-to-decode-cancers-dark-proteome/