Karen is Professor of Translational Cancer Research at the University of Leicester, where she leads the multidisciplinary Cancer Prevention Group. Her research is focussed on the discovery and preclinical development of agents for the prevention of cancer in populations at increased risk, optimising the clinical translation of these therapies and conducting early and late phase trials. Intrinsic to her work is the discovery and development of pharmacodynamic biomarkers for monitoring activity in humans and personalising interventions. She also has an interest in the role of metabolic health as a risk factor for cancer and how it interacts with preventive therapies to influence efficacy. Her research over 20 years has culminated in COLO-PREVENT, a world first prevention trial platform (funded by Cancer Research UK) of resveratrol, aspirin and metformin in high-risk patients identified through the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. The trial is currently open and will be conducted across 60 sites; it also includes a large embedded translational programme focussed on precision prevention.
Karen is joint lead of the Leicester Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and Director of the Leicester Cancer Research Centre. She established and is Co-Chair of the UK Therapeutic Cancer Prevention Network and member of the steering group for Cancer Prevention Europe; she is also Vice-Chair of the Cancer Research UK Prevention and Population Research Committee.
