Meet the WPP Team
Meet the Research team
Our research team consists of health professionals and scientists from different disciplines and backgrounds, all working towards our common goal of precision prevention of women’s cancers.
We work in close collaboration with the Cancer Prevention Trials Unit and Barts Clinical Trials Unit.
Learn about the WPP Clinical team here!
Our team
Ranjit Manchanda
Professor Ranjit Manchanda joined QMUL as Senior Lecturer in 2015. He was appointed as Professor of Gynaecological Oncology at Wolfson Institute of Population Health (WIPH), QMUL in Sep 2019, and co-leads the Screening, Prevention and Epidemiology Unit at the Centre for Cancer Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis at WIPH. He is a Consultant Gynaecological Oncologist at Barts Health NHS Trust and leads the Women’s Precision Prevention Service.
Prof Manchanda completed a NIHR Academic Clinical
Lectureship at UCL and subspecialty training in Gynaecological Oncology at UCLH
and Barts Health.
He is an Honorary Professor at the Department of Health Services Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is a Commissioner, Lancet Commission on Ovarian Cancer and Co-Leads the commission’s SPED Working group. He is a member of several advisory and oversight committees and was the Topic Advisor (Clinical Lead) for NICE Guideline [NG241]. He is an NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) Alumnus.
Michail Sideris
Michail is a Consultant Gynaecological Oncologist at the Royal London Hospital and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He completed his academic subspecialty training at the Royal London Hospital. He completed his doctorate thesis in molecular biomarkers of early rectal cancer at King’s College London and has published over 90 peer reviewed articles. He has also completed an MSc in Cancer Genomics and Data Science in 2025.
Caitlin Fierheller
Caitlin joined the Women’s Precision Prevention team as Postdoctoral Research Associate in February 2023. She is currently working across clinical trials in the WPP team and is a co-investigator on the PROTECT-C and DETECT-2 studies.
She completed her PhD in Human Genetics at McGill University, Montreal, Canada in 2023. Her research focused on the molecular genetics of germline potentially pathogenic variants in DNA repair pathway genes in familial ovarian cancer. She obtained her BSc in 2016 in Genetics and Biochemistry from Western University, London, Canada.
Jacqueline Sia
Jacqueline is an Academic Clinical Lecturer in Gynaecological Oncology. Her research is on evaluating strategies to improve surgical prevention outcomes of high grade serous ovarian cancer. This includes population-based genetic testing to improve genetic risk ascertainment, improving histopathological diagnosis and management of STIC, and exploring novel OC surgical prevention strategies.
Jacqueline studied Medicine at the University of Glasgow. She completed her PhD in prevention of ovarian cancer under the supervision of Prof Ranjit Manchanda.
Subhasheenee Ganesan
Subha is a Clinical Research Fellow and PhD student in Gynaecological Oncology. Her research is on the risk of serous endometrial cancer in BRCA carriers and the role of preventive hysterectomy, and the acceptability of risk-reducing hysterectomy and Mirena coil at their relevant cost-effective lifetime risk thresholds for women at increased risk of womb cancer.
Subha studied Medicine at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and is a Specialty Trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the West Yorkshire Deanery.
Priyanka Deshmukh
Priyanka is a Clinical Research Fellow in Gynaecological Oncology and MRes Student at Queen Mary University of London. Her research focuses on hereditary endometrial cancers and Lynch Syndrome through the LEGACY Study, and on implementing precision prevention and genetic testing pathways across ovarian, endometrial, and colorectal cancers via the DETECT-2 trial. She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate medical training in Mumbai, India, before joining the specialty training programme in the East of England, UK.
Roisin Mulholland
Roisin is a Clinical Research Fellow and MRes student in Gynaecological Oncology. Her research is on improving early detection of ovarian cancer through ovarian cancer symptoms and novel biomarkers. She is also working on the OVACATCH programme which aims to improve ovarian cancer screening in high risk women using multimarker models. Roisin studied Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and is a Specialty Trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the West of Scotland Deanery.
Lili Ellison
Lili is a Clinical Research Fellow in Gynaecological Oncology. Lili studied Medicine at the University of Birmingham and is a Specialty Trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the South London deanery. Her research is on the risk of serous endometrial cancer in BRCA carriers and the role of preventive hysterectomy, and other projects which cover risk ascertainment and risk-reducing strategies encompassing medical and surgical prevention for women’s cancers. She is also part of the central coordinating team of PROTECTOR.
Yuxiao Sun
Yuxiao is a PhD student in health economics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, working closely with Queen Mary University of London. Her research focuses on model-based economic evaluation of genetic testing.
Yuxiao completed her MSc in Health Economics at the University of York. She has experience in conducting health economic evaluations as a research assistant and modeller at the University of Sheffield before joining WPP.
Lucy Mitchinson
Lucy is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Behavioural Science. She is a mixed-methods researcher with an interest in health systems and health inequality. Her work in recent years has focused on understanding the barriers to cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Her previous work explored; GP cancer referrals, rapid research into care delivery during health emergencies, and in-depth interviews with hospice staff and patients. She completed her PhD in the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department of University College London.
Jingsong Zhao
Jingsong is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Behavioural Science. She is academically trained as a behavioral scientist and her research focuses on family-wide risk communication in the context of hereditary cancers.
Jingsong holds a Master of Public Health from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences from Emory University.
Hamda Mohamed
Hamda is a Clinical Nurse Specialist. Her work will be focused primarily on providing virtual counselling and genetic testing support for cancer patients and/or unaffected individuals who are considering or undergoing genetic testing within research studies being undertaken in the Women’s Precision Prevention team in the Cancer Prevention Unit.
She completed her BSc in Adult Nursing in 2020 at King’s College London. She has nursing experience in haematology oncology, dermatology and rare diseases.
Grace Norman
Grace is a Clinical Genetic Counsellor (GC). Her work will be focused primarily on providing counselling and support to patients who are undergoing genetic testing within research studies being undertaken in the Women’s Precision Prevention team in the Cancer Prevention Unit. Grace completed her BSc in Genetics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She then went on to complete her masters in Genetic and Genomic Counselling at Cardiff University. Grace has worked in a regional genetics service for the NHS in London before she joined the WPP team in February 2025.
Dona Chakraborty
Dona is a Genetics Counsellor/Clinical Nurse Specialist. She has been in the field of cancer research for over 8 years on cancer biology, genetic counselling and nurse-led programmes. She has been working in various regional cancer institutes of India before joining the WPP team as genetic counsellor/clinical nurse specialist in the PROTECT-C and DETECT-2 studies.
Laura White
Wythehi Ambihapathy
Bhagyashree Ingle
Bhagyashree is a senior software engineer in Women’s Precision Prevention team. She has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science. She has been working with QMUL for last 5 years and delivered several applications for research clinical trial studies independently. She is highly experienced in requirement gathering, analysis, design, development, support and maintenance of the clinical trials.
She has recently delivered DETECT-2(Direct to patient testing at cancer diagnosis for precision prevention-2) trial, providing support and maintenance for the same. She is currently working on PROTECT-C (Population Based Germline Testing for Early Detection and Prevention of Cancer) trial.
Victoria White
Victoria is Executive Assistant to Prof Manchanda. She provides administrative support to the Women’s Precision Prevention Research Team.
Chiara Caricato
Chiara is a Visiting Research Fellow from Italy (Rome, Gemelli University Hospital), where she contributes to precision prevention projects aimed at enhancing early risk detection, improving long-term outcomes, and promoting preventive surgery in women at increased risk. She is currently engaged in the PROTECTOR, DETECT-2, and PROTECT-C studies. Her research interests include patient-centered care, translational research, multidisciplinary collaboration, and innovation in cancer prevention.
Rosie Corbie
Rosie is a Genetic Counsellor in the Women’s Precision Prevention team. She helps patients taking part in research studies by providing genetic counselling and support around genetic testing. Rosie completed her BSc in Biological Sciences at University College London and her MSc in Clinical Sciences (Genomic Counselling) at the University of Manchester, as part of the Scientist Training Programme. She undertook her clinical training at the North West Thames Regional Genetics Service, gaining broad experience across cancer, rare disease, and prenatal genetics.
Yasmin Sharif
Yasmin completed her BSc in Nursing at the University of West London and has experience in haematology/oncology. She worked as a nurse at Barts Health for four years, specialising in chemotherapy administration and the care of patients pre- and post-stem cell transplant.
Sheetal Karavadra
Sheetal joined QMUL in September 2024 and started as a Trial Coordinator with Prof Manchanda’s Women’s Precision Prevention (WPP) team in January 2026. She holds a BSc in Human Biosciences and has worked in clinical trials since 2020. Her experience includes large-scale screening studies such as NHS-Galleri and the SUMMIT Study. In her current role, she primarily supports trial activities across the DETECT-2 and PROTECT-C studies.
Ling Shao
Ling joined the QMUL in April 2025 and started as a Trial Facilitator for PROTECTOR trial. She has worked in UK clinical trials since 2024. She supports the delivery of study and engagements with participating sites and stakeholders.
She holds BSc from University of Bristol and MSc from UCL in life sciences.
Lotta Coenen
Lotta is a General Practitioner (GP) in Brussels, Belgium and a PhD-student at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Her research is focused on the acceptability and feasibility of universal access to BRCA1/2-testing through the GP in Belgium. Within the WPP-team she is focusing on a cost-effective analysis of population BRCA1/2 testing.
Amanda Dibden
Amanda joined the WIPH in 2011 as a statistician, working on various projects to evaluate the effectiveness of breast cancer screening. After completion of her PhD in 2024, she joined the WPP team and provides statistical support for a variety of projects including the PRESCORES study.
Honorary team members
Xia Wei
Xia is an honorary postdoctoral research fellow in Health Economics. She has published cost-effective analyses which have informed the NICE guideline on familial ovarian cancer, and is currently working on identifying the cost-effective lifetime breast cancer risk threshold for risk-reducing mastectomy.
Samuel Oxley
Sam is a Subspecialty Trainee in Gynaecological Oncology at the Royal London Hospital. He completed his PhD in 2025 under the supervision of Prof Manchanda and Associate Prof Rosa Legood. His research focused on the prevention of ovarian and endometrial cancers including the PROTECTOR and PRESCORES studies. He studied medicine at the University of Cambridge and UCL before commencing Obstetrics & Gynaecology speciality training in the North Central and East London Deanery.
Ashwin Kalra
Ashwin is a PhD student in Gynaecological Oncology. His work is based around the DETECT-2 randomised control trial, but includes working on our team’s projects in genetic testing, risk prediction, risk management, cancer prevention, and health economics. Ashwin studied Medicine at King’s College London and is a Specialty Trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Deanery. Ashwin’s research is supported by a grant from Barts Charity.
Léa Mansour
Léa is an honorary Health Economics Research Associate and is evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the BRCA-DIRECT pilot, with a focus on genetic testing to shape public health policy and improve cancer prevention for women. Léa’s background in healthcare includes researching access disparities in maternity and midwifery care, alongside a clinical career in dentistry.
Katrina Sarig
Katrina has specific expertise in genetic education and the development of screening services for at-increased risk communities. After completing her MSc in Organisational Psychology at UMIST, she managed R&D projects for an International behavioural risk management agency and as an independent consultant. In 2009, Katrina founded Jnetics, the only UK charity dedicated to improving the prevention and management of Jewish genetic disorders. She left her Executive Director role at Jnetics in 2020 to establish and direct the JHC Review and work as an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Cancer Prevention at Queen Mary University of London.
Annika Idahl
Professor Annika Idahl joined QMUL for a research sabbatical in September 2023 to March 2024 and is now an Honorary reader in the WPP team. She is an appointed Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Umeå University
in Sweden and a senior consultant at the University Hospital of Northern Sweden. She leads the MISSION-O – Menopausal impact of opportunistic salpingectomy for prevention of ovarian cancer in collaboration with Professor
Manchanda and his team.
Prof Idahl is a recognized university teacher at Umeå University. She is a member of several scientific advisory boards including the
Swedish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her research evolves around ovarian cancer early detection, prevention and epidemiology, and has more than 80 peer-reviewed publications.
Rosa Legood
Rosa is an honorary Reader in Health Economics at QMUL. She has been collaborating with Ranjit Manchanda on health economics for over ten years. She is also an Associate Professor of Health Economics at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She provides support the women’s prevention team regarding economic evaluation across a range of projects from clinical trials to pilot sites. She is also co-supervising several PhD students.
