Over 110 people registered to take part in this in-person event organised by the Bristol Cancer Research Network, which is supported by the University of Bristol's Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research. The programme offered a series of oral and poster presentations from Early Career Researchers based on an open and competitive abstract submission process, and comprised 8 oral and 30 poster presentations delivered by up and coming research stars. We also welcomed two keynote speakers. 

What is an early career researcher (ECR)?
We have no set definition for an ECR; we welcomed submissions from undergraduates, postgraduates, postdocs, technicians, recently appointed lecturers who are starting their academic careers, clinicians embarking on a research career, and anyone who felt they were starting a new phase in their career journey. The speakers came from a variety of backgrounds and career stages. 

Keynotes

• Prof Simon Buczacki - Simon is Richard Blackwell Pharsalia Professor of Colorectal Surgery at Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford. His research focusses on understanding how colorectal (bowel) cancers evolve and how different mutations change the way cancer cells interact with each other and surrounding tissues, which aims to provide a mechanistic understanding of the implications of colorectal cancer heterogeneity. These experimental data may provide a clinical rationale for the trial of novel chemotherapy drugs or combinatorial treatments that ultimately could improve outcomes for patients with colorectal cancer.
• Dr Ed Roberts - Ed is a Senior Lecturer at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute (formerly the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research) at the University of Glasgow. He and his team are working to understand how the immune response to cancer is generated so as to understand what may limit the quality or quantity of that response. In this way, we hope to find new means of augmenting the response to immunotherapy in a broader subset of patients. To do this, they are focusing on how the T-cell-mediated immune response is initiated. 

The oral programme (in order of appearance):

• Benedita Deslandes (PhD student, Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol): A transcriptome-wide Mendelian randomization study assessing the causal role of CD4+ T cell gene expression profiles in colorectal cancer development
• Raisha Gibb (PhD student, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol): Investigating the Role of Fusobacteria in malignancies
• Olympia Dimopoulou (PhD student, CRUK Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Programme, Bristol Medical School: Population Health  Sciences, University of Bristol): The role of sex-hormones in prostate cancer aetiology
• Zhaozhen Xu (Senior Research Associate, Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol): Automating Screening of Studies for Systematic Reviews Using a Large Language Model
• Leila Ellis (NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow, Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol): Use of Polygenic Risk Scores in Childhood Cancer: Scoping Review and Project Proposal
• Liz Joseph (IMT1, Bristol Royal Infirmary, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust): Real world experience of bispecific fusion protein in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma: Can we deliver?
• Matthew Lee (Postdoctoral Researcher, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organisation): Proteomic analyses of colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
• Jinyan Duan (PhD student, School of Physics, University of Bristol): A Monte Carlo simulation of DNA damage in BNCT radiotherapy

Prizes were awarded to Raisha Gibbs (1st) and Jinyan Duan and Leila Ellis (joint 2nd). 

The poster programme (in alphabetical order):

• Abu Sabah, Lujin (PhD student, School of Physics, University of Bristol): A novel delivery method for α therapy
• Al Husein, Nour (Senior Research Associate,  Bristol Medical School): Co-production of a physical activity intervention in South-Asian men with prostate cancer or at risk of prostate cancer
• Alhadrami, Mai (PhD student, Bristol Medical School): The role of the amyloid precursor protein processing pathway in the proliferation of prostate cancer cells
• Ballisat, Laura (PhD student, School of Physics, Bristol): Simulation of cell cycle compaction on DNA strand break induction
• Belfield, Katherine (PhD student, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Bristol): Using 5-ASA for the prevention of sporadic colorectal cancer
• Bojko, Jodie (Research Associate, Cancer Epigenetics Lab, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Bristol): PRMT5 regulates cancer cell fitness through spliceosomal, epitranscriptomic and metabolic mechanisms
• Coakley, Stephanie (Data Manager/Research Assistant, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University): Are data minimisation principles applied through the use of data justification categories on trial metadata? An analysis in the SCC-AFTER trial
• Compton, Hannah (FY1 Doctor and project proposal lead, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust): Cervical screening accessibility for healthcare staff: a call to action
• De Sio, Chiara (Senior Research Associate, School of Physics, Bristol): A Geant4 study of the DNA damage in Targeted Alpha Therapies using 211At
• Duru, Kelvin (Medical Student, St Bartholomews and London Medical School): Inequalities in Cancer Screening Participation: Insights from Under-Represented Communities
• Frayne, Ceri (Senior Data Manager [Cancer Division] & Research Associate, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University): Piloting a standardised variable syntax in a new skin cancer trial: SCC-AFTER     
• Gill, Emily (PhD student, Bristol Medical School): Identifying the role of PLEKHS1 in cancer
• Goudswaard, Lucy (Senior Research Associate, Bristol Medical School): Investigating the causal role of circulating proteins in multiple myeloma
• Grant, Tressan (PhD student, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Bristol): The regulation of tumour cell cytolysis by cancer associated fibroblasts
• Growcott, Siona (Clinical oncology specialist registrar [ST5], Department of Clinical Oncology, Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust): Patient reported outcome measures of head and neck cancer patients treated with curative intent radiotherapy within the Head and Neck 5000 cohort
• Hazelwood, Emma  (PhD student, Bristol Medical School): Impact of weight loss on cancer-related proteins in serum: results from a cluster randomised controlled trial of individuals with type 2 diabetes
• Hobson, Lisa (PhD student, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School): Using human genetics to identify novel biomarkers for enhanced prediction and early detection of cancer
• Hoskin, Ashley (PhD student, School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Bristol): Is 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) the new aspirin?
• Irving, Alys (Research Assistant/Data Manager, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University): VALTIVE1: RECIST data: challenges and methodology in the VALTIVE1 study     
• Li, Haonan (PhD student, Bristol Medical School): Repurposing Drugs for the Prevention and Treatment of Prostate Cancer
• Markham, Philip (Data Manager, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University): The impact of a change in TMN staging classification edition during the SCOPE2 clinical trial and process for correction to ensure consistency
• Markham, Philip (Data Manager, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University): A specialised REDCap database for PICCOS, a complex randomised clinical trial with a multitude of treatment modalities
• Markham, Philip (Data Manager, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University): Utilising repeating (‘cloned’) forms to minimise workload required when building, editing or testing clinical trial databases
• Martin, Charlotte (Research Assistant/ Data Manager, Centre for Trials Research,  Cardiff University): Management of a Complex Dataset
• Shi, Yuyao (PhD student, School of Physics, Bristol): Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair mechanism and DSB End motion in silico modelling
• Spiga, Francesca (Senior Research Associate, Bristol Medical School): The effects of sunlight exposure on mortality: a systematic review of epidemiological studies
• Squires , Rebecca (ACF SpR Medical Oncology, Bristol Medical School): Using Mendelian randomization estimates to calculate the global burden of endometrial cancer attributable to overweight and obesity
• Su, Xiaoyu (PhD student, Bristol Medical School): Investigating the role of ERβ and IGFBP5 in the inhibitory effects of oestrogen receptor modulators  in colon cancer
• Waterfield, Scott (PhD student, Bristol Medical School): DNA methylation estimates of protein abundance and aging to determine cancer risk from prediagnostic blood

Prizes were awarded to Ashley Hoskin (1st), Emily Gill and Siona Growcott (joint 2nd), Nour Al Husein, Ceri Frayne and Lisa Hobson (joint 3rd). 

The next Early Career Researchers' symposium is expected to take place in June 2025, with a call for abstracts to be launched in January. To be kept informed of Bristol Cancer activities, join the Network's mailing list.