Pioneering cancer diagnosis and therapy
Welcome to the Centre for Investigative & Diagnostic Oncology. Nowadays, sadly, few people don't have relatives and loved ones who have fought cancer – and, in many cases, died of it. Established in 2008, our centre works at the most practical level to reduce the number of people dying of cancer.
We undertake groundbreaking research that can speedily be applied to patients. Our focus is on the diagnosis and potential therapy of colon, skin, prostate, breast and brain cancer – among the most common forms of the disease in the UK. If these conditions could be diagnosed much earlier as part of routine screening, the possibilities for successful treatment are immense.
The Centre is housed in the impressive Hatchcroft building on Middlesex University's Hendon campus. Under the direction of the eminent immunologist Professor Ivan Roitt, our internationally-renowned scientists have the potential to make quantum advances – both academically and commercially. We welcome biomedical science masters and PhD students to work alongside us to gain first-hand exposure to the cutting-edge research taking place.
The Centre has been supported by generous grants from our Patrons, Jon Smith and Princess Sara bint Talal through the Lee Smith Foundation. We welcome interest from individuals and corporations for further funding to enable our vital research work. If you would like to become a benefactor, then please email Professor Roitt.
Our main research themes, listed below, demonstrate the highly creative outlook of our staff.
These are our current research projects. Simply click on the titles for more information.
| Research project | Goals | Researchers |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cancer stem cells* | Therapeutic eradication of cancer-generating cells | Lund / Wen |
| 2. Probe for rectal and prostate cancers* | Readily affordable device for screening and monitoring rectal and prostate cancers | Bayford |
| 3. Colorectal cancer therapy | Target tumour with gold nanoparticles; delivery of a cytotoxic drug | Roitt / Lund |
| 4. Early lab diagnosis of cancer* | Use multiplexing test to detect cancer at an early stage before it appears | Butler / Shah / Roitt |
| 5. Early GP diagnosis of cancer | Develop a biosensor to detect diagnostic biomarkers at Point of Care, e.g, GP surgery | Bayford |
| 6. Therapy for prostate cancer | Targeting drug delivery with gold nanoparticles or liposomes | Roitt / Lund / Wang |
| 7. Novel cancer vaccines | New vaccine platform to target tumour growth factors | Butler / Roitt |
| 8. Imaging and therapy of skin cancer | Imaging; delivery of therapeutic drugs by nanoparticle-based skin patches | Ghali / Li |
| 9. Brain cancer diagnosis and therapy* | Blood biomarker diagnosis; imaging and thermal ablation of tumour using iron nanoparticles | Butler / Bayford |
| 10. Breast imaging* | To improve image quality and accuracy | Tizzard |
| 11. Connective tissue factors in breast cancer | Relationship to early detection and spread | Hills |
| 12. Cancer virus-induced signalling complex | Analyse components of a recently identified virally induced cancer-forming complex with intention to discover new therapeutic agents | Dilworth |
| 13. New papilloma virus-dependent tumours* a) Breast cancer b) Prostate cancer | Identification of tumour types not previously linked to papilloma virus infection | Wen / Ghali Ring / Naase |
| 14. Cervical cancer therapy* | Exploit novel drug targeting papilloma virus-positive cancer cells | Wen / Ghali |
| 15. Autocrine tumour growth factors* | Exploitation of novel hCG genetic findings, and possible c-Met/HGF loop e.g blood test for poor prognosis | Butler / Wen |
| * Research initiated |
