Submitted by Catherine Atkins on Tue, 14/04/2026 - 15:57
The transition from postdoctoral researcher to independent scientist remains one of the most difficult stages in an academic career, with limited funding opportunities and intense competition for fellowships creating significant barriers for early-career researchers. Against this backdrop, the new Bjorn Saven Postdoctoral Fellowship in Early Cancer Research, made possible by a generous donation from Bjorn Saven CBE, is a critical initiative to support promising scientists at a pivotal moment in their careers.
The Fellowship, hosted by the Early Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge, attracted strong interest. Open exclusively to current Cambridge postdoctoral researchers, the call invited applicants to submit detailed proposals aligned with the work of the Early Cancer Institute.
The applications received for the post spanned four University of Cambridge departments: Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, Oncology, and Public Health and Primary Care. The breadth and quality of submissions underscored both the depth of talent within the university and the scarcity of funding at this career stage.
To ensure a fair and impartial selection process, the Early Cancer Institute convened an independent panel of senior academics with no direct affiliations to the candidates.
After extensive deliberation, the panel selected Dr Lianlian (Leanne) Wu as the 2026 Bjorn Saven Fellow. A postdoctoral researcher in the Fitzgerald Lab, Dr Wu was recognised for her strong commitment to translational research and her readiness to transition to an independent scientific career.
Dr Wu’s Fellowship project will be jointly supervised by Rebecca Fitzgerald and Alex Frankell at the Early Cancer Institute. The project will also involve collaboration with Serena Best and Ruth Cameron from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science.
Her proposed project aims to develop a minimally invasive diagnostic platform for upper gastrointestinal cancers. Central to the research is a modified capsule sponge device combined with gastric-fluid liquid biopsy techniques leveraging state of the art copy number profiling.
In her proposal, Dr Wu highlighted the broader impact of the fellowship, stating that the funding would enable the development of a “portable, clearly differentiated research platform” and allow her to build the expertise needed to secure larger grants and establish her own research group.
On learning of her selection to receive the Fellowship, Leanne Wu commented: “I am incredibly grateful to receive this Bjorn Saven Fellowship. It provides a unique opportunity to bridge innovative engineering with cancer biology, and to develop practical, minimally invasive tools for early detection. This support will be instrumental in helping me grow as an independent researcher and in translating our work into meaningful clinical impact.”
Bjorn Saven CBE said “I am delighted that Dr Wu has been appointed to be the first Bjorn Saven Fellow at the Early Cancer Institute. I’m very happy to be supporting the Early Cancer Institute, which is undertaking outstanding work to understand the earliest steps of cancer formation. I look forward to following the progress Dr Wu will make, together with her supervisors Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald and Dr Alex Frankell, over the next few years.”
Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, Director of the Early Cancer Institute and Head of the Department of Oncology, said “I am thrilled with the appointment of Dr Leanne Wu to the Bjorn Saven Postdoctoral Fellowship. She is absolutely first class and doing a very exciting, inter-disciplinary project between the ECI and the Department of Material Sciences. I am very grateful to Bjorn Saven for his generous support.”