Catharine West

Biography

Catharine West is a Professor of Radiation Biology at the University of Manchester. She studied biology at York University and radiobiology at the Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton.  After postdoctoral work at the University of Rochester Cancer Centre in upstate New York, she moved to Manchester in 1986. In 2002, she joined the Institute of Cancer Sciences at the University of Manchester and established the Translational Radiobiology Group.  Her research focuses on trying to predict how cancer patients respond to radiotherapy with a particular interest in measuring radiosensitivity and hypoxia.  She was instrumental in setting up an international Radiogenomics Consortium, which is identifying the genetic determinants of radiotherapy toxicity.  She is a chief investigator (RAPPER, REQUITE) or translational lead (NIMRAD, VORTEX, CIRCCa) for national/international studies.  Current/recent committee work includes CTRad, COMARE, the LH Gray Memorial Trust, NCRI Sarcoma CSG, NCRI Head & Neck CSG, Prostate Cancer UK Grant Advisory Group and the editorial boards of Radiation Research, Physics in Medicine & Biology and Clinical Oncology. She has published over 200 papers, and is an honorary member of the Royal College of Radiology and an honorary fellow of the British Institute of Radiology. She was awarded the Weiss medal by the Association for Radiation Research in 2016 and the Bacq and Alexander award by the European Radiation Research Society in 2017.

Social responsibility

Involved in or past member of several national  committees including:

• Chair, LH Gray Memorial Trust set up to futher the public the knowledge and understanding of all aspects and all applications of radiation sciences.
• Member of COMARE (Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment) set up to advises the government on the health effects of natural and man-made radiation, both ionising and non-ionising.
• Member of the CTRad (Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group) set up by the National Cancer Research Institute in 2009 to focus on clinical and translational issues relating to radiotherapy and radiobiology, as well as developing a portfolio of practice-changing trials. CTRad has also been tasked with actively promoting translation of new discoveries into practice.