Professor Rob Bristow

Cancer Domain Academic Lead and University Professor of Cancer Studies, University of Manchester

Professor Rob Bristow joined University of Manchester as Director of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) in August 2017 with a remit to developing a new cancer strategy for Manchester with a cancer team science approach. The MCRC is a unique partnership between CRUK, the University of Manchester and the Christie NHS Trust. His primary research interests are in tumour hypoxia, DNA damage signaling and repair in tumours, and the genomics of prostate cancer progression and cancer treatment response. He is particularly interested in novel clinical trials that intensify cancer therapy to prostate cancer patients whose tumours harbor aggressive genetic changes and hypoxic sub-regions.

Professor Bristow is currently a senior group leader in Translational Oncogenomics at the CRUK Manchester Institute and was the lead PI for the Canadian component of the ICGC whole genome prostate cancer sequencing project (CPC-GENE). He has served on a number of senior Scientific Advisory Boards and committees for: Prostate Cancer Foundation (USA), the MOVEMBER Foundation, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the German Cancer Centre, Tuebingen Comprehensive Cancer Centre, NKI Amsterdam, the Danish Cancer Society and sits on the Scientific Executive Board for Cancer Research UK (CRUK). He has over 280 published papers and book chapters and is twice a Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) awardee. He was made a Canadian Cancer Society Research Scientist in 2004, an ESTRO Honorary Fellow in 2011 and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences (UK) in 2019.

Professor David Shackley

Cancer Domain Clinical Lead and consultant surgeon at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

Professor David Shackley holds a role as the Clinical Lead at MAHSC  for the cancer research domain, working with colleagues to bring research and clinical care closer together.

Professor Shackley has led the development of Greater Manchester Cancer, which has evolved over time from a provider focussed network in 2013 into a whole system integrated body (from 2016) which coordinates cancer care in its broadest sense across Greater Manchester (GM). He is the senior responsible officer for cancer in GM which includes providing clinical, operational and transformational leadership.

He led the development and consultation of the five-year GM Cancer Plan which is now in the delivery phase, with dedicated funding from sources including the GM Health and Social Care transformation Fund. Signature projects include CURE (an enhanced smoking cessation in secondary care programme), Prehab4cancer (optimising patients for cancer treatment) and CanGUIDE (a new shared decision making tool in advanced disease).

In 2015 to 2018 he was the Medical co-lead for the National Cancer Vanguard which brought GM and London together as a 10 million catchment population to develop and test new cancer approaches before a broader roll out across NHS England. Prime amongst these programmes was the development of 4 national best practice timed pathways in common cancers, now part of National NHS planning (commissioning) guidance, along with many other initiatives now being rolled out nationally including developing Rapid Diagnostic Centres for suspected cancer, personalised (‘stratified’) follow up approaches and primary care educational resources to facilitate better care (Gateway C).

Professor Shackley has worked as a consultant surgeon at Salford Royal since 2005 and his main clinical interests over this time have been renal cancer and stones, medical education and healthcare management. He continues to operate and be clinically active.