Our Functional Genomics Centre Team

Our partnership between industry and academia aims to democratise access to functional genomics across the Cancer Research UK community. It enables our teams to work together on some of the most important problems in cancer today. 

The FGC team standing together, smiling at the camera

Our leadership

David Walter headshot

David Walter

Cancer Research UK lead of the Functional Genomics Centre | Group leader, Cancer Research Horizons

Doug Ross Thriepland

Douglas Ross Thriepland

AstraZeneca lead of the Functional Genomics Centre | Director, Discovery Science, R&D, AstraZeneca

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Rachel Grimley

Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery, Cancer Research Horizons

Ultan McDermott, Scientific Lead of the FGC

Ultan McDermott

Chief Scientist, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

Our triage panel

The Cancer Research Horizons Triage Panel have the responsibility of prioritising projects to bring into the Functional Genomics Centre (FGC) on behalf of Cancer Research Horizons. Projects will be prioritised based on Cancer Research Horizons strategic priority, feasibility and deliverability.

Owen Sansom, Director of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute

Owen Sansom

Director of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute

Greg Hannon, Scientific Lead, Cancer Research UK

Greg Hannon

Scientific Lead, Functional Genomics Centre | Director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute

Caroline Dive, Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and Professor of Pharmacology at The University of Manchester

Caroline Dive

Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and Professor of Pharmacology at The University of Manchester

Jessica Downs, Deputy Head of the Division of Cancer Biology at the Institute of Cancer Research

Jessica Downs

Deputy Head of the Division of Cancer Biology at the Institute of Cancer Research

Allison Lloyd, director of the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (UCL) and Professor of Cell Biology at UCL

Allison Lloyd

Director of the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and Professor of Cell Biology at University College London

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Stuart Farrow

Vice President of Biosciences, Cancer Research Horizons

Mathew Garnett

Mathew Garnett

Senior Group Leader, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge

Our scientific advisory board

The FGC benefits from the expertise of an international Scientific Advisory Board. Working closely with the FGC’s management, the board helps maximize the potential of the centre’s resources and capabilities. By focusing on strong scientific rationale and translational science, the board drives the development of the FGC’s project pipeline. Members of the board are renowned experts in cancer research, functional genomics, genome biology, pharmacogenomics, and computational biology.

Evangelia Petsalaki

Evangelia Petsalaki

Group Leader, European Bioinformatics Institute

Rebecca Fitzgerald

Rebecca Fitzgerald

Director, Early Cancer Institute, Cambridge University

Chris Marine

Chris Marine

Science Director, KU Leuven

Eduard Batlle

Eduard Batlle

Group Leader, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona

Anna Obenauf

Anna Obenauf

Senior Group Leader, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology

Johannes Zuber, Senior Scientist at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Austria

Johannes Zuber

Senior Scientist at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology

Learn more about our translational science

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Functional Genomics Centre

The Cancer Research Horizons-AstraZeneca Functional Genomics Centre delivers pooled CRISPR screens to identify and validate new drug targets and...

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Drug discovery and development

We identify, develop and commercialise promising ideas into successful cancer therapeutics, diagnostics and enabling technologies.

Speak to our team of experts

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Beatrice Lana

Strategic Alliance Executive

[email protected]