British Science Week is the UK’s biggest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths, running across 10 days in March.
When you think of breast cancer research, it might be natural to assume the work is all biology and medicine based – doctors trialling drugs, researchers looking at cells and DNA - but this isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, our scientists rely on a whole range of topics within science in order to carry out the highest quality breast cancer research.
Chaired by Breast Cancer Now scientist Professor Mitch Dowsett, the event emphasised the importance of collaboration between professionals from many disciplines in understanding breast cancer, finding the best ways to prevent and treat it, as well as improving the lives of those living with the disease.
Dr Nichola Johnson was nominated by Dr Olivia Fletcher, a team leader at the Research Centre, for her work investigating how changes in levels of hormones are linked with breast cancer risk and response to treatment.
Our final update of highlights from the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool.
Lifestyle was a strong theme at this year’s conference, with talks exploring how making lifestyle changes is a powerful way to reduce cancer risk, as well as a way to improve outcomes for people living with and beyond the disease.
The Breast Cancer Now Tissue Bank is the UK’s largest unique collection of high-quality breast tissue, breast cells and blood samples donated by breast cancer patients. Scientists can apply to use these tissue samples in their work, to help them understand more about how breast cancer behaves, grows and spreads.
Angie Berwick is part of the team that gets these tissues ready for scientists to use. She tells us what a typical day is like working in the lab at our bank in Leeds.