From Ideas to Innovation
From Ideas to Innovation
Our new, biennial research conference From Ideas to Innovation, was held at the Royal College of GPs on 17-18 April 2024. It saw Prostate Cancer UK-funded researchers come together to hear the latest research updates, network, and start new collaborations.
The event saw exciting results, invigorating research talks and inspiring stories from men living with prostate cancer. This gave the community the chance to network and collaborate in a way which has been lacking post-pandemic.
Building on this success, 2025 will see the return of Making Progress, which gives our early career researchers the opportunity to learn new skills and network. From Ideas to Innovation will return to bring the full research community together once again in 2026!
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I loved to see that patients have been invited to share their stories. There was a wide range of topics and lots of time for networking. I found the whole atmosphere very friendly and I felt very welcomed.
What happens next?
Did you form a new research idea, find a new opportunity, meet a new collaborator, or find out something new about how Prostate Cancer UK can support your research?
We want to hear about it! Let us know how From Ideas to Innovation helped your research and help us make this event as impactful as possible in the future.
As a new prostate cancer researcher, this event helped me feel part of the community and helped identify areas that we could support each other to improve research.
A meeting for researchers designed by researchers
We wanted to make sure this event serves our funded research community as best as it can, so we didn't want to make assumptions on what you need. We invited you to be part of our Scientific Organising Committee, and we are delighted that so many of you accepted our call.
Members of our Scientific Organising Committee are:
Professor Charlotte Bevan, Imperial College London
Dr Mick Brown, University of Manchester
Dr Victoria Dunne, Queens University Belfast
Professor David Elliott, Newcastle University
Dr Asma Ahmed Hassan Elshiekh, University of Glasgow
Dr Claire Fletcher, Imperial College London
Dr Susan Heavey, University College London
Dr Jennie Jeyapalan, University of Nottingham
Dr Alan McWilliam, University of Manchester
Professor Paula Mendes, University of Birmingham
Dr Emma Scott, University of Newcastle
Professor Greg Shaw, University College London
Dr Ning Wang, University of Leicester
Dr Jason Webber, Swansea University.
It's great that you give a platform for patients to share their experiences and get the opportunity to speak to researchers about current ideas.
Read the programme for the event
Sessions and Speakers
Want to know who our speakers were? See the schedules below for days 1 and 2!
Day 1
Sessions and Speakers for Day 1 of From Ideas to Innovation.
Registration will be held at 30 Euston Square, London, NW1 2FB, United Kingdom.
Refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Dr. Matt Hobbs, Prostate Cancer UK
Chiara de Biase, Prostate Cancer UK
Professor Jan van der Meulen, Department of Health Services Research and Policy and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Professor Noel Clarke, The Christie and Salford Royal Hospitals, Manchester
Co-chairs:
Emeka Ojimba,
Dr Jane Shortall, University of Manchester
Speakers:
Emeka Ojimba
Dr Tanimola Martins, University of Exeter
Dr Jana McHugh, Institute of Cancer Research
Professor Dan Brewer, University of East Anglia
Dr Abraham Gihawi, University of East Anglia
Dr Claire Fletcher, Imperial College London
Hot lunch will be provided.
Co-chairs:
Paul Dennington, Session chair
Dr Jennie Jeyapalan, University of Nottingham
Speakers:
Paul Dennington
Dr Tristan Barrett, University of Cambridge
Professor Paula Mendes, University of Birmingham
Dr Veeru Kasivisvanathan, University College London
Dr Shonit Punwani, University College London
Prostate Cancer UK Research Team
Refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Co-chairs:
Gary Reeves
Dr Corinne Woodcock, University of Nottingham
Speakers:
Gary Reeves
Professor Hing Y. Leung, University of Glasgow
Dr Jason Webber, Swansea University
Professor Yong-Jie Lu, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Ashwin Sachdeva, University of Manchester
Dr Alan McWilliam, University of Manchester
Professor Hing Y. Leung, University of Glasgow
Co-chairs:
Robert Dimmick
Professor David Elliot, University of Newcastle
Speakers:
Robert Dimmick
Professor Greg Shaw, University College London
Professor Suneil Jain, Queen's University Belfast
Professor Rob Bristow, University of Manchester
Professor Ian Mills, University of Oxford
Dr Adriana Buskin, University of Newcastle
Dr Anastasia Hepburn, University of Newcastle
Networking opportunity.
Day 2
Sessions and Speakers for Day 2 of From Ideas to Innovation.
Co-Chairs:
Martin Wells
Dr Demi Pritchard, Swansea University
Speakers:
Martin Wells
Dr Ning Wang, University of Leicester
Professor Gert Attard, University College London
Dr Alison Tree, The Institute of Cancer Research
Dr Julia Murray, The Institute of Cancer Research
Professor Emma Hall, The Institute of Cancer Research
Professor Jayne Tierney, University College London
Dr Claire Vale, University College London
Co-chairs:
Tony Collier, BEM
Dr Susan Heavey, University College London
Speakers:
Professor Charlotte Bevan, Imperial College London
Professor Jason Carroll, University of Cambridge
Professor Johann de Bono, The Institute of Cancer Research
Dr Emma Scott, University of Newcastle
Dr Eileen Parkes, University of Oxford
Refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Co-chairs:
Gary Hooker
Dr Simon McDade, Queens University Belfast
Speakers:
Professor Simon MacKay, University of Strathclyde
Professor Helen McCarthy, Queen’s University Belfast
Professor Jonathan Coulter, Queen’s University Belfast
Professor Val Macaulay, University of Oxford
Professor Clare Verrill, University of Oxford
Gary Hooker, Co-chair
Hot lunch will be provided.
The networking sessions will be during this extended lunch break.
Grab your lunch then join us in the auditorium for discussions on topics chosen through our networking survey. We'll break-out into smaller groups to tackle challenges including striking a work/life balance, how to commercialise your research, and working with AI and other emerging technologies.
Part #1 of our future directions session:
Co-chairs:
Patrick Williams
Dr Kelly Coffey, University of Newcastle
Speakers:
Dr Abraham Gihawi, University of East Anglia
Dr Rachel Barker, University of Bristol
Dr Juan Manuel Jiménez Vacas, The Institute of Cancer Research
Dr Joe Taylor, The Institute of Cancer Research
Refreshments and snacks will be provided
Part #2 of our Future directions session:
Co-chairs:
Patrick Williams
Dr Kelly Coffey, University of Newcastle
Speakers:
Dr Asma Ahmed Hassan Elshiekh, University of Glasgow
Dr Emma Scott, University of Newcastle
Dr Victoria Dunne, Queen’s University Belfast
Dr Edward O'Neill, University of Oxford
Laura Kerby, Prostate Cancer UK
