Department of Oncology

During my time as a student in the MSc Precision Cancer Medicine, we covered a range of topics relevant to the field, which catered to students from a wide range of academic and working backgrounds. As a working professional, it was really useful to be able to work through lectures at my own pace whenever I had time. Each week everything was split into short mini-lectures, making it easy to fit around other commitments. We still had some live sessions on Zoom, which were also fairly flexible with multiple timeslots, which gave us an opportunity to interact as a cohort and get to know fellow students, discuss concepts and ideas, and review the course content.

To sit the exam, we got to spend the week in Oxford staying at St Anne’s College together as a cohort, where we had a week of interactive revision sessions, socialising, and seeing the sights of Oxford. I had the opportunity to complete a lab-based project in Oxford for my dissertation in the final few months, which was a good opportunity to gain important lab skills and interact with research groups at the university. Overall, this MSc gave me a broad knowledge base of cutting-edge precision medicine concepts and lab experience, which have been invaluable in preparing me for PhD study.

This MSc course has opened to me new horizons in academic research and provided me with the framework and confidence not only to navigate but to help others navigate the ever-evolving field of modern precision cancer medicine. I appreciated the various perspectives on precision medicine that the course offered, ranging from molecular biology, bioinformatics, ethics, pathology, imaging, therapeutics, clinical trials, and regulatory aspects, as well as the global perspective.

The tutors are highly motivated academic professionals and for their guidance, I am very grateful. I particularly enjoyed the small group tutorials which allowed close interaction with the teachers. One should however have no illusions about the time requirements of the course, the estimate of 20 hours/week is realistic. On the other hand, the flexibility of multimedia-assisted self-learning enabled me to finish the course on my tempo, even if I stayed behind on occasion because I was working full-time in the clinics during the course.

Finally, besides the course itself, the institution lives up to the high standards that its reputation suggests. Administration allows access to a number of additional 'soft skills' courses provided by the University of Oxford. I took for example courses on academic writing, leadership, teaching as well as bioinformatics. Summarising, though the course was at times challenging, it was rewarding and I would definitively recommend it.

Radiation oncology is a highly appealing field at the interface of biology, physics, and medicine with the potential to optimise treatment for patients. As a student in the first cohort of UCL’s Cancer Biomedicine BSc, I studied a broad curriculum focusing on cancer as a disease but mainly learned about radiation from an imaging perspective. After developing a particular interest in tumour radioresistance through external reading and talks, I was motivated to improve my knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of radiation in the context of cancer treatment and develop my practical research skills.

When I was applying, I only found a small number of universities offering radiation oncology-related courses for students with a biological background (rather than physics) and so the MSc in Radiation Biology at the University of Oxford was both a logical and exciting next step for my academic journey. The 12 core modules provided me with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the fundamental aspects of radiation biology. The lectures and tutorials sessions were both engaging and interactive, and were taught by highly motivated researchers who are well-recognised and respected in the field. My personal interests developed to include tumour hypoxia, so the tumour microenvironment and molecular/cellular radiation biology modules were my personal favourites. The translational/clinical radiation biology modules were also enjoyable as I was able to learn about new developments in the clinical cancer setting. In my year, we had 3-4 days of classes per week which allowed plenty of time for extracurricular activities and socials.

As well as enhancing my current knowledge of the underlying science behind radiation oncology, the course built upon my practical research skills through practical sessions that ran alongside the taught material as well as the 5-6-month research project that concluded the year. I truly thrived in this environment, particularly the lab-based research project, and acquired a multitude of skills and techniques that will aid my future career in research. This ultimately motivated me to apply for a DPhil in Oncology, which is what I am currently undertaking in the same lab at the University of Oxford. I am immensely grateful for the teaching staff and researchers involved in the smooth running of the MSc Radiation Biology course and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in radiation oncology.

Have you ever wondered how physics and chemistry can be applied to cancer research? I did. While writing my PhD thesis in theoretical chemical physics and questioning my life decisions (most PhD candidates will likely experience this), I wanted to find a field that combined my innate interest in cancer research with my educational background in physics and chemistry – a challenging task. After careful consideration, I chose to pursue this course. I was impressed by the course's well-rounded structure and broad scope, and the course did not disappoint.

One of the things I appreciated most about the course was the interactive and engaging lectures. We had the opportunity to participate in lab sessions, and lecture demonstrations, and even use phone apps to assist with radiotherapy planning. The small tutorial groups allowed for in-depth discussions on various topics. The course's holistic approach not only equipped us with knowledge on radiation biology, but also of other cancer treatment modalities, such as immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Additionally, I had the honour of interacting with and learning from some of the best cancer researchers in the world.

The highlight of the course for me was the research component. I had the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge FLASH radiotherapy research, a ground-breaking cancer treatment. This new technology to deliver electrons at ultra-high dose rates, developed by the research group "Physics and Biology of FLASH Radiation", holds promise for cancer treatment with minimal side effects. Through this research project, I honed my skills in image processing and data analysis and expanded my programming skills in MATLAB and Python.

Currently, I am doing my postdoctoral fellowship specializing in translational research, particularly in developing new medical technologies for the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. I am also involved in a collaborative evidence gap mapping project for The World Health Organization classification of tumours blue books, with the International Agency for Research on Cancer. This project aims to increase the discoverability and use of studies by researchers, ultimately advancing the field of cancer research.

This course opened doors for me to the field of cancer research, and my long-term goal is to become a group leader or principal investigator (PI), carving out my own speciality in combining FLASH radiotherapy and MedTech.