Nicholas Turner

Biography

Professor Nicholas Turner is an Academic Consultant Medical Oncologist who specialises in the treatment of breast cancer. He is a Team Leader in the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research, London. Professor Turner read Natural Sciences at Cambridge University before qualifying in 1997 from the University of Oxford Medical School. After completing general medical training in London, he trained in Medical Oncology at The Royal Free and University College Hospital and completed a PhD at the ICR in 2006. He joined the Breast Unit of The Royal Marsden and the ICR as a Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology in 2008. He is a Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist fellow and devotes the majority of his time to academic research, both in the laboratory investigating novel therapies for the treatment of breast cancer and in clinical trial research. Professor Turner is Chief Investigator of a number of national and international trials of personalised therapy in Breast Cancer. He is Deputy Editor of the journal Breast Cancer Research, Breast Theme lead for The Royal Marsden National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, and on the organizing committees of many international conferences on breast cancer.

Research Interest

Dr Nicholas Turner runs a laboratory that aims to validate potential therapeutic targets in cancer, in particular in breast cancer, and identify the factors that predict for response to therapy. He in addition leads a number of clinical trials of targeted therapy in breast cancer The main focuses of the laboratory include targeting aberrant Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors (FGFRs) in cancer. Activation of the FGFRs is one of the most common oncogenic events in cancer, which is frequently associated with a poor outcome. We are interested in identifying determinants of sensitivity to FGFR inhibitors and mechanisms of resistance. The laboratory also has a focus on targeting the dependence on specific cell cycle kinases in breast cancer, in particular WEE1 inhibitor combinations and the targeting of CDK4/6 in breast cancer. The other main focus of the laboratory is on non-invasive analysis of breast tumour phenotypes through analysis of circulating free DNA, and the potential to use such assays to personalise breast cancer therapy and dissect intra-tumoural heterogeneity. Dr Turner is Chief Investigator of a number of clinical trails of targeted therapy in breast cancer, with these trials focused on the delivery of personalised therapy for breast cancer.