Group alumni
Cinzia Conteduca (2014-2017)
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Dr Vincenza Conteduca was a visiting Clinical Research Fellow, who joined the Attard Team after receiving the prestigious ESMO Translational Fellow award.
Her work focused on the detection of novel biomarkers to identify resistance to targeted treatment such as Abiraterone or Enzalutamide in advanced prostate cancer patients.
She obtained her MD in 2006 and completed her Medical Oncology training in 2011 in Italy. She got her PhD in 2013 and became a Medical Oncology Consultant specialized in the treatment of advanced urological tumors at Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (I.R.S.T.) in Meldola, Italy. She currently holds the position of associate Professor at the University of Foggia.
Alex Landless (2017-2019)
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Mr Alex Landless was a Research Assistant and logging blood samples sent as part of the STAMPEDE clinical trial as well as supporting other projects in the lab.
He obtained his BSc from the University of Bristol and started an MSc (Physician Associate Studies) in January 2020 at Queen Mary University, London.
Mariana Buongermino Pereira (2017-2019)
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Dr Mariana Buongermino Pereira was a Computational Research Fellow who worked on processing and analysing DNA sequence data from multiple projects.
She completed her BSc in Medical Science in 2005, MSc in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology in 2012 and her PhD in Bioinformatics 2017 all at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. In April 2019, Mariana left the team and took up a role as Research Bioinformatician at Genomics England.
Francesco Pierantoni (2019)
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Dr Francesco Pierantoni was a visiting Clinical Research Fellow who worked at Istituto Oncologico Veneto (Padova, Italy).
He was part of the Italian PRIME group, and joined the Attard team between June and November 2019 on the PRIME clinical fellows exchange program. He completed his medical degree in 2014 at the University of Padova. After his visiting experience at the Attard Lab, he returned to finish training as a Medical Oncologist at the same institution.
Mohini Kalyan (2019-2020)
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Miss Mohini Kalyan was a senior Research Assistant who worked on the PARADIGM biomarker study, were she was responsible for sample collection and processing.
She obtained a BSc from the University of Cambridge and completed her MSc at Imperial College London. After her time at the Attard Lab, she started a position at Imperial College London working on a Covid-19 vaccine in September 2020.
Kamila Sychowska (2019-2021)
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Miss Kamila Sychowska was a Research Assistant on the ReIMAGINE study, where she was responsible for sample collection and processing.
She earned her BSc and MSc in Chemistry from the University of Gdansk in 2015. After her time with the Attard team, she continued her career as a Research Assistant at King's College London (KCL).
Stefano Pirrò (2019-2021)
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Dr. Stefano Pirrò was a Senior Computational Research Fellow, who specialized in analysing and interpreting DNA methylation in prostate cancer cells for the detection of minimal residual disease through liquid biopsies.
He earned his BSc in Biotechnology in 2010, his MSc in Bioinformatics in 2012, and his PhD in Bioinformatics in 2017, all from the University of Rome "Tor Vergata." From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Pirrò served as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Barts Cancer Institute. After his time with the Attard team, he joined GSK, where he advanced to the role of Team Leader.
Tony Ibrahim (2021)
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Dr. Tony Ibrahim was a visiting Clinical Research Fellow, who worked alongside the Attard and Gustave Roussy teams during his time at UCL.
He earned his medical degree from Saint Joseph University of Beirut in 2012, followed by a four-year hematology-oncology fellowship and a two-year Medical Oncology fellowship at Gustave Roussy in France. Dr. Ibrahim also holds a master’s degree in Molecular Genetics from Beirut and a postgraduate diploma in Cancer Research from Paris. After completing his fellowship at the Attard team, he returned to Gustave Roussy, where he continues his work as a Clinical Oncology Specialist.
Wout Devlies (2021-2022)
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Dr. Wout Devlies was a visiting Clinical Research Fellow, who led the ARNEO biomarker study during his time with the group. He earned his medical degree in 2016 and began his PhD at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 2019.
After completing his visiting fellowship, Dr. Devlies returned to Leuven to continue his specialty surgical training in Urology.
Anjui Wu (2019-2022)
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Dr. Anjui Wu was a PhD Clinical Research Fellow, who made ground-breaking discoveries in plasma DNA methylation, leading to the development of new methods for early prostate cancer detection.
His work during his PhD laid the foundation for several patents and the creation of his start-up company, CANSoR. Dr. Wu earned his medical degree at the National Taiwan University in 2013 and completed his PhD at the Attard Lab in 2020, and now is a Medical Oncology trainee.
Larissa Mendes (2017-2023)
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Dr Larissa Mendes was a PhD Clinical Research Fellow who made significant contributions to the STRATOSPHERE and STAMPEDE studies and served as the lead Pathologist on several projects at the group.
She earned her medical degree in 2007 and specialized in Pathology in 2012, both in Brasília, Brazil. Dr. Mendes completed her PhD at the Attard Lab in 2023 and is now continuing her specialist Pathologist training.
Nicole Brighi (2017-2023)
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Dr. Nicole Brighi was a visiting Clinical Research Fellow, who led the CABAZITAXEL biomarker study and contributed to several other projects. Her research focused on characterizing and tracking cabazitaxel-resistant clones in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer using liquid biopsies.
Dr. Brighi earned her medical degree in 2011, completed her Medical Oncology training in 2018, and was awarded her PhD in 2022, all from the University of Bologna. In 2022, she received the prestigious ESMO Translational Research Fellowship. After completing her fellowship, Dr. Brighi returned to Italy, where she resumed her role as a Medical Oncologist at the Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori "Dino Amadori" in Meldola, Italy.
Viola Bianca Serio (2024)
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Miss Viola Bianca Serio was a visiting Research Fellow, who participated in the processing of samples from the CASCADE study.
She earned her BSc degree at the Universite degli Studi di Firenze in 2020 and she spent a period at the Attard Lab while working towards her PhD.
Maria Ruiz Vico​ (2019-2022)
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Dr. Maria Ruiz Vico was a visiting Clinical Research Fellow, who led the PRESIDE biomarker study and contributed to several other projects within the group.
She earned her medical degree from the University of Granada in 2012 and completed her Medical Oncology training in Málaga in 2018. In the same year, she was awarded the prestigious SEOM (Spanish Society of Medical Oncology) grant for translational research training. After completing her PhD, Dr. Vico returned back to Spain where she resumed her role as a Medical Oncologist at Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid.
Marina Parry (2017-2023)
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Dr. Marina Parry was a Senior Research Fellow, who led the transcriptomic analysis for the STAMPEDE study and contributed to several other key projects within the group. Her research centered on using transcriptome-wide gene expression classifiers to identify prognostic biomarkers for advanced prostate cancer by linking them to clinical outcomes.
Dr. Parry earned her BSc in Molecular Biology in 2007 and her PhD in Cancer Genetics in 2017 from the University of Sheffield. She held postdoctoral positions at the University of Southampton (2011-2014) and the CRUK Manchester Institute (2014-2017), where she conducted extensive cancer research. Following her postdoctoral work at the Attard Lab, Dr. Parry became the Senior Project Manager at the National Prostate Cancer Audit.
Blanca Trujillo (2017-2023)
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Dr. Blanca Trujillo was a CRUK-funded PhD Clinical Research Fellow, who set up the TRAILS and PEACE studies, where she focused on the optimization of the PCF-Select targeted capture assay both in prostate cancer ctDNA and tissue samples and investigated the mechanisms of resistance driving disease progression.
She earned her medical degree in the Autonoma's University in Madrid in 2012 and completed her Medical Oncology training in the "Virgen de la Salud" Hospital in Toledo in 2018. In 2018, she received the prestigious Alfonso Martín Escudero award to persue translational research in prostate cancer. Following the completion of her PhD, Dr. Trujillo took on the role of Global Development Medical Director for Late Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca
Leila Zakka (2019-2024)
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Dr Leila Zakka was a Research Fellow, who played a key role in establishing the CANSoR spin-out and contributed to several projects within the group.
Dr. Zakka earned both her MSc and PhD from the University of Szeged, Hungary. Dr. Zakka has since transitioned to a career as a Health Economics professional.