Humans of health research

Dr Emma Harris is the Group Leader of the Imaging for Radiotherapy Adaptation Group at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and member of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Convergence Science Centre, a joint centre between the ICR and Imperial College London which aims to develop innovative ways to address challenges in cancer. 

Dr Harris is developing new ultrasound imaging techniques to guide the delivery of radiotherapy and to help predict and monitor treatment response. She is also a CRUK fellow, receiving mentorship from Alison Howe, a businesswomen and cancer survivor, and works with Dr Anna Kirby, a consultant oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Emma is a physicist but initially trained as a clinical scientist working in radiotherapy physics in the NHS.   

“My master’s is where I was first exposed to research and I loved the freedom it allowed. You can explore your own ideas a lot more than you can when you have responsibilities in a hospital. So when I had the opportunity to do a PhD, I jumped at it!

" I’ve since stayed in academia and now I lead my own research group but my clinical experience has been invaluable. Being closely associated with the clinic means you understand the need better - you can see the problems that need to be solved.  

“My work focusses on ultrasound imaging. Ultrasound is a fantastic tool - it can tell us so much about soft tissues - but its full potential hasn’t been realised in the clinic yet, particularly when it comes to cancer.

"We think it can have an important role in telling us how cancers will respond to therapies and how cancers might progress. This is because research has shown that the stiffness of a tumour is correlated with its aggressiveness and sensitivity to treatments like radiotherapy.

"Ultrasound can tell us a tumour’s stiffness and so can guide treatment; we just need to find a way to make the data accessible in a clinical setting – simpler ways to interpret the images.  

“I enjoy applying my knowledge of physics and engineering to solve problems, and this is particularly rewarding in medicine. Modern technologies underpin so many of the ways we detect and treat cancer, and I believe that, working with patients, we should be finding ways to exploit all new technology and novel understanding to help improve the lives of patients.  

“I have multiple research projects that I work on. Half my research is in the clinic working with patients and with Anna – a consultant oncologist who’s trialling different radiotherapy techniques for breast cancer. I support Anna’s trial work with radiotherapy physics. 

"Ultrasound can be used for a myriad of things. I’m also looking at its use to assess a tumour’s blood supply as well as its potential to sensitise tumours to radiotherapy and make them more treatable. I’m also looking at how it can be used to tell us more about the kidneys.  

“My new ideas come from cross fertilisation. For example, we’ve been working with Professors Peter Huthwaite and Mike Lowe in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial. They’re using ultrasound in a very different setting - they use it to test composite materials on planes and Formula 1 cars. They use a technique called backscattered ultrasound and we want to know if you can use it to characterise tumours as well. They have some software that allows you to model it so that has been really fascinating work.   

“I do a lot. I have to tell myself off for being a magpie! It’s no doubt best to focus, but there's always something new and exciting to do. My mentor, Alison, helps keep me on track though. I’ve realised that leading my research group is like running a small business and so having someone from the business world as a mentor has been really helpful.  

“Alison was assigned to me through a CRUK mentoring scheme that pairs female team leaders with women from industry. She’s founded multiple successful businesses and it’s been great to have her perspective. She listens to me in terms of what my wants are for my career and makes suggestions about what I need to progress, but it's also about running my team.

"As a scientist, I don't particularly feel like a great manager - you don't really get any training so it’s good to have that expertise in Alison and I can learn from her. She offers fresh eyes on what's going on – even if you just want to talk about situations, recruitment, people management, budgeting, writing grants etc. Even networking. She sends me off to conferences with to do lists! “Meet 10 new people.” for example.  

“Working in research means I have a job where I’m constantly learning and I have the freedom to explore the things that interest me. But research can be tough as there is quite a lot of uncertainty in terms of career stability. Despite this, I wouldn't change profession for the world.”  

Alison Howe founded her business in strategic medical communications in 1992. With a degree in pharmacology, she realised early on that supporting medical research could help achieve great things. So since her cancer diagnosis, Alison has worked closely with CRUK for over 10 years. This has included volunteering her time as a leadership and business mentor to researchers like Dr Emma Harris at the ICR.   

“I support Emma with the business side of her research. Emma is leading a research group and as part of that she’s required to do so much more than just her science.

"It falls to her to apply for funding, develop budgets and manage people and this can be daunting to someone who’s never done it before.

"So, despite science and business seeming very different, there are a lot of skills and knowledge they have in common to succeed - from networking and team leadership to project planning and budget-management.   

“Emma Is at the forefront of using ultrasound to tailor cancer treatments and that’s an area of research that really excites me. When I was working in the pharmaceutical industry, we didn’t have the ability to tailor treatments to individual needs. Now treatments are being developed that are tailored to individuals. And that means they can be far more effective and lead to fewer side effects.   

“I came across Emma and her work in my voluntary roles on CRUK’s New Investigator and Clinical Careers committees.

"We review applications for prestigious research awards that are hotly contested, so the winners really are those on a trajectory to being outstanding scientists.

"Emma won one of these awards and so I was excited to have the opportunity to work with her - I think women can have a tough time in academia.   

“It’s extremely rewarding to give my time to a cause that’s a force for good in society. I used to be very business oriented – all my energy went into my company – but when you start to participate in something bigger than business and have an opportunity to contribute, it resets your focus.”   

Dr Anna Kirby is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden and lecturer on the MSc course at the ICR. She leads research into new breast radiotherapy techniques at The Royal Marsden and the ICR.    

“I have always enjoyed studying specific areas in depth, working out what we don’t know and how to find out more, but it was working with one particular consultant, Dr John Yarnold, who later became a Professor at the ICR  and recently retired, that taught me the value of combining a methodical approach with a pragmatic patient-focussed research question.

"Working as his research fellow was truly inspirational and made me want to continue research alongside my clinical work.  

“Emma and I first worked together when I was John’s research fellow and we were both relatively junior compared to our positions now. It was good to be exploring our respective coal-faces alongside each other, sharing overlapping areas of expertise and making a difference to patients undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer.   

“More recently we have been co-supervising a research fellow working on the potential role of proton beam therapy in breast cancer. This is a type of radiotherapy that targets tumours directly with high energy protons, rather than high-energy x-rays.  

"I still enjoy bringing together our respective clinical and physics perspectives to solve problems in planning and delivery of complex radiotherapy techniques.  

“People often ask advice on how to balance a clinical role with academic activities but the truth is that when I first started out in academia, I balanced clinical work and research, in my view, very badly indeed.

"This all changed when someone spelt out to me that there is only so much activity you can squeeze into one day. The analogy they used was that a 50 litre suitcase cannot carry more than that, no matter how hard you try. After that, I started to focus much more on the areas where I could truly add value, both clinically and academically.   

“More recently, I have only been able to progress academically by reducing my clinical sessions. The reality of the modern NHS is that the system does not make it easy to carve out academic time and almost all of my research has been done in my own time. But I keep doing it because I enjoy it and I know I am making a positive difference for my patients. "

“Emma and I continue to work on proton beam therapy for breast cancer and on the possibility of being able to combine research narratives around shorter radiotherapy courses for breast cancer patients and matching radiation dose to risk of relapse. There is still plenty of work to do and being able to collaborate with colleagues that we know and trust makes that so much easier and more enjoyable.  

 “Only around one third of researchers around the world are women. I would encourage the next generation of young women to consider a career in science research. I would say: believe in your abilities, trust your instincts, be courageous when you know you have value to add, don’t be put off by overconfident individuals and hang in there when things aren’t going quite as you would like.

"When it comes to leadership, women lead differently from men. There is room for both and the different styles can be hugely complementary but again hold your line when you know what’s right.  

“At the start of my career I never imagined I would become President of the European Society of Radiation Oncology but I am really proud of how I have been able to adapt to this role.

"I have discovered skills I didn’t believe I had and, with the help of multiple talented and constructive colleagues, we have been able to achieve a more open and transparent society than ever before.

"It is such a relief (approaching a milestone birthday) to realise that the capacity to change and grow is a lifelong phenomenon for as long as you nurture it”.