Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Group

Dr Daniel Adams joined The Generations Study research team in 2023 with Professor Garcia-Closas. A medical doctor by training, Daniel practiced as a General Practitioner in the South of England after obtaining his medical degree from Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. His interest in data science led to a degree in Health Data Analytics and Machine Learning from Imperial College London. At the ICR, Daniel combines his clinical experience and data science training to analyse digital images of breast tissue using AI. He also conducts statistical analyses for breast cancer survival and risk factors.

Penny joined The Generations Study research team in 2010 having transferred from being a Study Co-ordinator on the ICR Cancer Screening Evaluation Team. Responsible for managing pathology and mammographic density data among others, Penny understands the entire sample collection management system. She provides operational support for the day-to-day data collection as well as longitudinal cohort data for the research analysts.

Ana joined The Generations Study research team in 2024 with Professor Garcia-Closas. A biomedical scientist by training, Ana holds a MSc in Experimental Pathology and has worked at the ICR for nearly ten years. She transferred from the Cancer Biomarkers Team where she investigated biomarkers of metastatic prostate cancer for the development of novel cancer therapies. Ana is responsible for the management of biological specimens and digital pathology processes within the study by establishing workflows and quality control metrics for scanning, storing and analysing the tissue slides. These will be used to understand how risk factors are related to different types of breast cancer, and to identify tissue biomarkers for the prediction of malignant breast cancer.

Reuben joined The Generations Study research team in 2023 with Professor Garcia-Closas. Previously, he graduated from University of Oxford with a Masters in Mathematics and Statistics, completing his dissertation utilizing Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to phase imputed genetic samples. Reuben's research focusses on evaluating the performance of models assessing breast cancer risk, and collaborating with other groups to improve these models. He also works on descriptive epidemiology studies, working to find patterns in cancer rates and risk factors in the UK population with the view of projecting these trends into the future.

Sanjay joined The Generations Study research team in 2024 working with Professor Garcia-Closas. He holds an MSc in Data Science from the University of Birmingham and has expertise in Python, Spark, SQL, and MS Azure, along with knowledge in Machine Learning and Large Language Models. Currently, Sanjay is engaged in Data Management and Transformation of Generations Study data systems to improve the use of data following FAIR principles.

Jane joined The Generations Study research team in 2010 working as a PA/Research Administrator and is currently working as a Senior Research Administrator. Jane is responsible for the pathology collection of samples and pathology reports. These are requested from hospitals all around the country. Samples and pathology reports have been collected for breast and ovarian cancers. These samples are then processed in our laboratory in order to investigate risk and prognostic factors for these cancers and the data from the pathology reports are used by the study scientists.

June joined The Generations Study research team in 2016. Her role includes sending and receiving files from organisations such as the NHS and uploading them securely into SQL Server. She helps to implement online questionnaires for the Generations participants. The results are then fed into existing processes for use by the analysts in the team. She regularly extracts the data and pseudo anonymises it for use by outside collaborators.

Zoey joined The Generations Study research team in 2024 with Professor Garcia-Closas. She moved into the role after graduating from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with a MSc in Epidemiology where she wrote her dissertation on how physical proximity to health facilities impacted implant contraceptive use in Senegal. Zoey is working on increasing study access and awareness of the Generations Study. On the research side, she uses geospatial analyses to identify social and environmental risk factors for breast cancer to identify and help address health inequities through public health policy and interventions.

Imogen joined the Generations Study research team in 2023, shortly after completing her master’s degree in Population Health Sciences from the University of Cambridge. With her background in epidemiology and data analysis, she is now working towards a PhD with Professor Berrington that investigates the late effects of breast cancer treatments. Imogen is dedicated to advancing our understanding of cancer survivorship and improving patient outcomes.

June joined The Generations Study research team in 2023 as the clerical assistant to Professor Berrington and Professor Garcia-Closas. She administers the regulatory documents and ethics submission involved in the Generations Team’s studies as required by the health research authorities, such as national ethics (REC), Royal Marsden Hospital CCR, national confidentiality committee (CAG), NHS England. She also provides administrative support to the Physical Activity Monitor Study.

Dawn joined The Generations Study research team in 2004 with previous expertise in office management, recruitment, and communications. She joined to assist managing the study launch and overseeing the recruitment and enrolment of over 100,000 women in the Generations Study. Since then, Dawn has headed the retention of study participants, contributed to managing other research projects within the team, and has assisted with staff training. Currently, Dawn provides administrative support to the senior study scientists and the research team as well as co-ordinating the Study communications and overseeing participant engagement.

Irina joined The Generations Study research team in 2024 as a PhD student to investigate tissue-based biomarkers on benign breast biopsies and the associations with future breast cancer. Previously she worked as an R&D Graduate Scientist in Data Science and AI at AstraZeneca, specialising in leveraging computer vision and artificial intelligence to analyse histopathology images to assist patient stratification and inform clinical research. Irina's research is aimed to integrate computational pathology and statistical modelling to assess breast cancer risk for women with benign breast diseases and explore tissue models to enhance our understanding of breast carcinogenesis.