After finish undergraduate studies, I have developed interest in bioinformatics and molecular biology. I graduated from my MSc in Bioinformatics at University of Leicester and got accepted as a research fellow, allowing me to continue to follow my interests in machine learning, explainable AI and cancer genomics.
Team Category: Fennell Research Lab
Jake Spicer
I completed my undergraduate degree in biochemistry at the University of Leicester in 2018. Following this I completed a molecular pathology and therapeutics of cancer master degree in 2019 at the University of Leicester. I then took a year out before returning to Leicester in 2020 to undertake a PhD with Professor Dean Fennell, focusing on targeting homologous recombination deficiencies in mesothelioma
Kudzayi Kutywayo
Lawrence Dawkins Hall
I am an award winning technician with 35 years experience of molecular and cell biology, conducted through out the UK, EU and the USA. During that time I have participated in autonomous research, including partcipation in the draught genome assembly in New York, circa 2000; teaching and instructing undergraduate and post graduate students in molecular and cell biology and protein biochemistry; and provision of core technical suport in numerous laboratories, including lab managment. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) and both a Chartered Biologist and Chartered Scientist. I have approximately 50 publications in peer reviewed Journals, conference abstracts and text books, pertaining to multiple medical sciences displines, with about 1000 citations thereof. At the moment, I offer core techncial support to Professor Fennels laboratories and associated Scientific staff
Daniel Faulkner
Currently working towards a cancer research PhD within the Mesothelioma research group. Previous experience includes a Masters degree in Genetics and Bioinformatics, a Bachelors degree in Biological Sciences and 10 years experience working in IT. Previous research has included using genetic analyses to measure the health of local bumblebee populations and writing code to assist in the detection of LINE1 chimeric transcripts.
Dr. Charlotte Poile
Charlotte joined the Mesothelioma Research Group in 2018. Charlotte plays an essential role in ensuring regulatory (REC, HTA, GCP) compliance within the research programme. Her work also involves contributing to the development and execution of national translational research projects and clinical trials and she also works closely with international commercial partners. Charlotte has a key role in coordinating the translational research studies within different Universities and NHS departments. Her work also involves overseeing the sequencing stage of the translational projects.
Dr. Aleksandra Bzura
Aleksandra, a former PhD student of Prof Fennell, is a dedicated researcher in molecular and cellular biology. Her work focuses on the advancement of cancer therapeutics through the meticulous in vitro and ex vivo investigation of complex mechanisms in response to DNA damage therapies. Aleksandra is skilled in conducting and optimization of translational research, including the establishment of patient-derived primary cell lines.
Dr. Jens C. Hahne
Jens received his PhD in biochemistry from the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg i.Br. (Germany). During several postdoc positions [Department of Molecular Pathology at the University of Bonn (Germany), Charite Berlin (Germany), Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the University of Wuerzburg (Germany)] he received a broad training and knowledge in molecular pathology, oncology and translational research. Then he worked for 8 years as Senior Scientist in the Department of Molecular Pathology at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR, London, UK) before joining the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Leicester (UK) as Research Manager. He has published more than 80 papers in reputed journals, contributed to several books and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.
Dr. Joanna Dzialo
Joanna joined Prof Fennell group in 2017. Her main focus is work with patient derived explants and and other ex vivo models of mesothelioma for testing new drug therapies. Joanna has extensive lab experience including setting up and optimizing translational research pipelines. She has great expertise in immunohistological staining and image analysis using digital pathology tools. Joanna is also working with patient derived primary cell lines including establishing and characterising of cell lines from clinical material.
Dean Fennell, FRCP, PhD
Professor Dean Fennell is a clinician scientist and international leader in mesothelioma research. He has designed and led several investigator-initiated trials from phase 1 through phase III including the first precision medicine platform study for patients with mesothelioma (MIST).
He is past-president of the International mesothelioma interest group, past NCRI mesothelioma chair, co-author of UK BTS, and European (ESMO, ERS) mesothelioma treatment guidelines and served two terms on the EORTC board. His lab is currently pioneering novel precision medicine strategies and the study of tumour evolution in mesothelioma.
Professor Fennell held two CRUK clinician scientist and MRC doctoral fellowships. He originally trained in pharmacology (1st class) and medicine at UCL , then completed training in London. Prof. Fennell has published 167 peer reviewed articles in journals including The Lancet, Lancet Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, & Nature communications
In 2023 he was awarded the IMIG Senior Investigator medal and MARF Pioneer Award for his work in the field.