The Early Cancer Institute is part of the University of Cambridge Department of Oncology, in the School of Clinical Medicine.
Our Director
Prof Rebecca Fitzgerald OBE FMedSci
Rebecca became the inaugural director of the Early Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge in 2022. After training in Cambridge, Stanford University, St Barts and the London Hospitals, she started her own group focussing on earlier detection of oesophageal and gastric cancer which have some of the poorest outcomes of all solid tumours.
Her pioneering work to devise a first-in-class, non-endoscopic capsule sponge test for identifying individuals at high risk for oesophageal cancer has won numerous prizes, including the Westminster Medal, and this test is now being rolled out in the NHS and beyond by her spin-out Cyted Ltd. Rebecca is passionate to bring translational science and entrepreneurship to the Early Cancer Institute so that we can fulfil our vision to predict and prevent cancer.
CRUK Cambridge Centre
The Early Cancer Institute is affiliated with the CRUK Cambridge Centre, which is directed by Professor Richard Gilbertson. Richard is also the Li Ka Shing Chair of Oncology and Head of Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge and Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.
Governance
The Early Cancer Institute is fortunate to benefit from the guidance of a Steering Committee and an external Scientific Advisory Board. The Steering Committee meets tri-annually and is comprised of academics from within the University of Cambridge whose research interests include cancer early detection.
The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) is a group of distinguished scientists and other experts in their fields who provide evaluation and advice to the Early Cancer Institute. They meet in person once a year for the annual SAB meeting, and also participate in ad-hoc meetings as required.