Professor Trevor Graham 

Director and Faculty Team Leader

Genomics and Evolutionary Dynamics Team

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Professor Andrea Sottoriva

Faculty Team Leader

Professor Sottoriva joined the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, in 2013, where his research focuses on using multi-disciplinary approaches based on high-throughput genomics and mathematical modelling to understand cancer as a complex system driven by evolutionary principles. He was appointed Director of the Centre in April 2020, having been made Deputy Director in 2018.

The goal of his group is to identify those patient-specific rules that regulate the development and progression of the disease, to inform prognosis and novel therapeutic options that are tailored to the need of the individual cancer patient.

Evolutionary Genomics and Modelling Team

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Professor Mel Greaves

Faculty Team Leader and Founding Director

Professor Mel Greaves trained in evolutionary biology and zoology (BSc) and immunology (PhD) at University College London and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm before focusing his research on cancer and leukaemia in the mid-1970s at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London.

In 1984, he established the Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology of Leukaemia at The Institute of Cancer Research, London. In 2013, he founded the ICR's Centre for Evolution and Cancer. His laboratory has a longstanding interest in uncovering the natural history, evolutionary biology and causation of childhood leukaemia.

They have used twins with concordant leukaemia, archived neonatal blood spots and frozen cord blood to trace back the origins of leukaemia to its earliest stages and its initiating lesions. They also use single cell genetics and xeno-transplantation to determine clonal architecture, phylogeny and the genetic diversity of stem cells.

In collaboration with epidemiologists, they have pursued an evolutionary ‘mismatch’ hypothesis that explains the role of infections in triggering childhood leukaemia.

Biology of Childhood Leukaemia Team

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Dr Marco Bezzi

Faculty Team Leader

Dr Marco Bezzi's team uses genome editing technologies, mouse models, organoid cultures and mass cytometry-based single cell approaches to experimentally model the cancer ecosystem and to investigate how tumour heterogeneity can be controlled and exploited in light of evolution.

After graduating in Molecular Biotechnology from the University of Bologna, Dr Bezzi moved to the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore to work on arginine methylation in Dr Guccione's laboratory.

In 2014, he joined the Cancer Center of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Department of Medicine/Genetics of the Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. Dr Bezzi was awarded the Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship in 2015. His postdoctoral work focused on understanding the link between prostate cancer genetics and tumour microenvironment.

In 2018, he was promoted to Instructor in Medicine, junior faculty, of Harvard Medical School and was awarded the AACR-Amgen Inc. Clinical/Translational Cancer Research Fellowship to continue his studies on prostate cancer heterogeneity. Dr Bezzi joined the ICR in July 2020 as leader of the Tumour Functional Heterogeneity team.

Tumour Functional Heterogeneity Team

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Dr Alejandra Bruna

Faculty Team Leader

Dr Alejandra Bruna recently joined the ICR to study the evolution of paediatric tumours using patient-derived xenograft models. She will collaborate with other members of the CEC to investigate the dynamics of tumour progression and treatment resistance in paediatric tumours within a controllable experimental setting.

She is a cancer biologist with experience leading and contributing to preclinical programmes using improved patient-derived tumour models.

She is trained in molecular biology and biochemistry. She obtained her PhD from the University of Barcelona, followed by two postdoctoral fellowships at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City and Vall d'Hebron Institute, Barcelona. 

Dr Bruna developed, coordinated and co-led a translational research framework for patient-derived tumour xenografts (PDXs) and short-term cultures of PDX cells (or PDTCs) with Professor Carlos Caldas at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.

Preclinical Modelling of Paediatric Cancer Evolution Team

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Dr Yinyin Yuan

Faculty Team Leader

Trained as a computer scientist, Dr Yinyin Yuan completed her BSc degree at the University of Science and Technology of China, before obtaining her MSc and PhD at the University of Warwick. At Warwick she became interested in studying genetic regulation in plant disease by adapting statistical analysis tools originally developed for other disciplines such as economics. Her postdoctoral research at the CRUK Cancer Institute in Cambridge involved characterisation of the molecular landscape of breast cancer.

She joined the The Institute of Cancer Research, London, in 2012 as the leader of the Computational Pathology and Integrative Genomics team. Her lab develops computational approaches to study the spatial variability of tumours and the synergistic interactions between cancer genetics and the tumour microenvironment.

Their approaches combine techniques from diverse disciplines including computer science image analysis, spatial statistics and molecular pathology. Their goals are to deliver scientific and clinical advances through integrative modelling of intra-tumour heterogeneity, to foster new developments of statistical applications in pathology, and to develop objective methodologies for directing cancer therapeutic strategies.

Computational Pathology and Integrative Genomics Team

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Professor Nicola Valeri

Faculty Team Leader

Professor Nicola Valeri received his medical training in Italy where he completed his residency and fellowship in Medical Oncology in 2008. After spending his last year of training in the States Nicola was captivated by the promises and challenges of microRNAs research and went on to undertake his Research Fellowship in Professor Croce’s Lab investigating the role of non-coding RNAs in gastrointestinal cancers.

Professor Valeri moved to Glasgow University as Clinical Lecturer in 2012 and he was then promoted Senior Clinical Lecturer in Medical Oncology at the beginning of 2013. He was appointed as one of the new ICR Team Leaders at the Centre of Molecular Pathology in October 2013.

Professor Valeri received several prestigious awards including the American-Italian Cancer Foundation International Fellowship (2008-2010), The Italian Foundation for Cancer Research Fellowship for Research Abroad (2010), The Sidney Kimmel Translational Scholar Award (2010-2012) and the Medical Research Society Prize at the Academy of Medical Sciences Clinician Scientist Spring Meeting (2013).

Professor Valeri is interested in the study of gastrointestinal cancers with a special focus on colorectal and gastro-oesophageal cancers.

Gastrointestinal Cancer Biology and Genomics Team

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