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Based in the Division of Clinical Medicine (previously Department of Oncology & Metabolism) at The University of Sheffield, the Cancer and Bone Lab is a friendly group of Postdoctoral Research Associates, Research Assistants, PhD researchers and MSc researchers. Read about each of our team members below!
Dr Alanna (Leni) Green
Team leader
Leni is a Wellcome Trust Career Development Award Research Fellow in the Division of Clinical Medicine at The University of Sheffield, UK, where she leads the Cancer and Bone (CAB) Lab. Her research focuses on developing new treatments for incurable cancers in bone, with a current focus on targeting dormant, chemotherapy-resistant myeloma cells.
The CAB Lab began in July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Leni was a Postdoctoral Research Associate, later being appointed to Research Fellow in 2023. Prior to this he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Oncology & Metabolism, in the Sheffield Myeloma Research Team (July 2016-June 2019) and the Helleday Lab (July 2019 - June 2020). She completed her PhD in the Department of Medicine (St Vincent's Institute), The University of Melbourne in December 2016 and holds a Bachelor of Biomedical Science from Monash University and Bachelor of Science (Honours) from The University of Melbourne, where she graduated 1st in her class.
Leni has received over 20 awards for academic achievement and research excellence including the AIMM-ASBMR John Haddad Young Investigator Award and ECTS Academy membership.
Dr Georgia Stewart
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Georgia completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield in 2021 with the Sheffield Myeloma Research Team, where her research centred on the preclinical development of a novel oncolytic virotherapy for the treatment of myeloma. Since then, as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Sheffield, Georgia has led several preclinical projects, both independently and in collaboration with industry partners, focussing on novel therapies for myeloma and other haematological malignancies, as well as myeloma-induced bone disease. Her work has led to multiple publications and presentations at national and international conferences, and in 2023, she was honoured with the New Investigator Award by the Bone Research Society. Georgia joined the CAB Lab in October 2024 and will be working on targeting dormant cancer cells in bone metastatic cancers.
Dr Hannah Smith
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Hannah completed her PhD in 2022 at the University of Southampton. There she spent three years developing a 3D bone model of osteosarcoma, which involved replicating cellular interactions found in the tumour microenvironment. Hannah remained at the University of Southampton for her first postdoctoral role, where she investigated the suppressive function of macrophages, important immune cells that have been correlated with poor prognosis in many cancers, including osteosarcoma. Hannah joined the CAB Lab in October 2024 where she will be continuing research into the effects of the bone tumour microenvironment.
Dr Haider Al-Janabi
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Haider's expertise are in immuno-oncology. He completed his PhD at the University of Sheffield in 2019, focusing on Breast Cancer Immunotherapy. As a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Sheffield, he led a project targeting perivascular macrophages to prevent relapse in localized prostate cancer, demonstrating expertise in designing and conducting pre-clinical experiments. His contributions extend to publications and presentations in prestigious conferences worldwide, highlighting his significant impact in the field. Haider joined the CAB Lab full-time in April 2024.
Alex Sprules
Lab Manager and Research Assistant
Alex submitted her PhD thesis in 2024 at the University of Sheffield, where she developed a novel 3D model of myeloma dormancy using scaffolds to mimic the dormancy microenvironment. Her research was supervised by Dr. Shelly Lawson, Dr. Fred Claeyssens, and myself. Alex’s experience includes cancer modelling, 3D cell culture, flow cytometry, and fluorescent microscopy. As of October 2024, Alex joined the CAB Lab in October 2024 as a Lab Manager and Research Assistant.
Chloe Harris
PhD student
Chloe completed her MSc(Res) Translational Oncology at the University of Sheffield, and has worked at both Astrazeneca and the ICR investigating therapy resistance in lung and colorectal cancer respectively. She is now completing her PhD in the CAB Lab focusing on investigating reactive oxygen species in dormant myeloma cells and possible therapeutic strategies.
Abi Foston
PhD student
Abi completed her BSc in Biochemistry at the University of York, and MSc in Molecular Medicine at the University of Sheffield. She also has industry experience in analytical chemistry and drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics. Her research focuses on the DNA damage response within dormant myeloma cells, to find new avenues for effective treatments to overcome chemo-resistance. Abi joined the CAB Lab full-time in October 2024.
Alumni
Alumni
Dr Natalie Winder - Research Associate
Sophia Sutherland - Research Technician
Terry Dadzie - MSc researcher
Dr Vicky Cookson - Research Associate
Louise Ramos - MSc researcher - Targeting MTHFD2 in cancer
Dr Victor Canuas Landero
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Victor joined the CAB Lab part-time in January 2022 while writing up his PhD thesis. Victor's research focuses on testing therapies to target dormant myeloma cells in vitro and in vivo.
Simin Mazaheri Tehrani
MSc Researcher Erasmus+ (University of Turin)
Simin is visiting the CAB Lab to complete her Masters Research Project, where she is interested in mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in myeloma. She is working on a new myeloma therapeutic and identifying resistance and sensitising mechanisms through a genome-wide CRISPR screen in myeloma cells and testing drug synergies in myeloma cell lines.
Vasileia Messiou
MSc (Res) Translational Oncology Researcher
Vasileia is investigating reactive oxygen species in dormant cancer cells
Anushka Ajay Thatte
MSc Molecular Medicine Researcher
Anushka is investigating molecular mechanisms of dormancy in cancer using CRISPR knockout cells
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