Team

I graduated from Shantou University in China with a BSc in Biotechnology in 2021, and achieved a MSc by research in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Edinburgh in 2022. Now I come back to UK for more in the field of mesothelioma with a BRC PhD studentship at the University of Leicester. BAP1 mutation in MPM will be my focus in the following years.

I received the B.S and M.S. degrees in computer science from Jilin University China in 1982 and 1985 respectively and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from Durham University U.K. in 1994. I am currently a Professor with the University of Leicester. I have published 500+ refereed journal articles and conference papers. My research interests include creative computing software engineering and Internet computing. In 2010 I became an IEEE Computer Society Golden Core member.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.