Research
Our Research Aims
Our research program has two broad scientific aims, each addressed through the work of three integrated work packages:
Aim 1: Map the colorectal cancer microbiome
Work Package 1: The microbiome in cancer risk.
Work Package 2: Epidemiological correlates of the colorectal cancer microbiome.
Work Package 3: Mapping the cellular distribution of the colorectal cancer microbiome.
Aim 2: Understand the clinical impact of modulating the colon cancer microbiome
Work Package 4: Model systems to study the colorectal cancer microbiome.
Work Package 5: The interplay between the microbiota and colorectal cancer treatments.
Work Package 6: Novel treatments involving microbiome modulation.
We also have a public-facing objective: to share and disseminate our data, methodologies and concepts with the scientific, medical and patient communities.
This integrated structure of our program is illustrated in the figure on the right.

Areas of research
Our projects are divided into Work Packages (WP), each focusing on a specific research objective described above.
Research Updates
Congratulations Dr. Caroline Young
Dr. Caroline Young from Dr. Phil Quirke’s lab in Leeds gave the CL Oakley Lecture for the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland and was awarded the Oakley lecture medal.
Congratulations to Dr. Avery Robinson and Dr. Jacob Wilde, from Emma Allen-Vercoe’s lab on successfully defending their PhD theses.
Though strong evidence suggests the gut microbiota contributes to colorectal cancer (CRC) onset and/or progression, there is no universal signature...
Kimmie Ng and Marios Giannakis publish a perspective “A Common Cancer at an Uncommon Age”
By 2030 colorectal cancer will be the leading cause of cancer deaths in individuals aged 20-49. Young-onset CRC differs from average age...