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 QMUL. 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. He has also completed an MSc in Cancer Genomics and Data Science in 2025.
Caitlin Fierheller
Caitlin is a Research Associate working across clinical trials and is a co-investigator on PROTECT-C and DETECT-2. She completed her PhD in Human Genetics at McGill University in 2023. Her research focused on the molecular genetics of potentially pathogenic variants in familial ovarian cancer. She obtained a BSc in Genetics and Biochemistry from Western University in 2016.
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. Jacqueline studied Medicine at the University of Glasgow. She completed her PhD in prevention of ovarian cancer under the supervision of Prof 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 preventive hysterectomy, and the acceptability of risk-reducing strategies. She 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 QMUL. Her research focuses on hereditary endometrial cancers and Lynch Syndrome, and on genetic testing pathways. She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate medical training in Mumbai, India, before joining the specialty training programme in the East of England.
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 symptoms and novel biomarkers. She is also working on the OVACATCH programme. 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. She 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 risk ascertainment and medical and surgical risk-reducing strategies. She is 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 QMUL. 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 conducting health economic evaluations and modeller as an RA at the University of Sheffield.
Lucy Mitchinson
Lucy is a Behavioural Scientist and mixed-methods researcher with an interest in health systems and inequality. Her work has focused on barriers to cancer diagnosis and treatment, GP referrals, care delivery during health emergencies, and staff and patient experience. She completed a PhD in the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department of UCL.
Jingsong Zhao
Jingsong is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Behavioural Science. 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. She provides virtual counselling and genetic testing support for cancer patients and/or unaffected individuals who are considering or undergoing genetic testing within research studies. 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 Genetic Counsellor. Her work is focused on providing counselling and support to patients who are undergoing genetic testing within research studies. Grace completed her BSc in Genetics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She then completed a masters in Genetic and Genomic Counselling at Cardiff University. Grace previously worked in a regional genetics service for the NHS.
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.
Victoria Tate
Vicky is a Genetic Counsellor. She holds a BSc in Genetics from the University of Manchester and an MSc in Genetic and Genomic Counselling from Cardiff University. She has worked as a Genetic Counsellor at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and as a Genomic Practitioner within the Bristol Regional Genetics Service. Vicky is passionate about improving outcomes for individuals and families.
Laura White
Wythehi Ambihapathy
Wythehi joined the Barts CTU at QMUL as a Clinical Trial Manager in February 2023. She leads the project management of the DETECT-2 study as well as supporting work on the wider trials portfolio. In this role she provides operational oversight/support for clinical trial activities, including trial management, data management and vendor management.
Bhagyashree Ingle
Bhagyashree is a senior software engineer with a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science. She is experienced in requirement gathering, analysis, design, development, support and maintenance of the clinical trials. She has recently delivered DETECT-2, providing support and maintenance for the same and is currently working on PROTECT-C.
Victoria White
Victoria is Executive Assistant to Prof Manchanda. She provides administrative support to the Women’s Precision Prevention Research Team.
Rosie Corbie
Rosie is a Genetic Counsellor who provides genetic counselling and support around genetic testing. Rosie completed her BSc in Biological Sciences at UCL and her MSc in Clinical Sciences (Genomic Counselling) at the University of Manchester, as part of the Scientist Training Programme. She undertook clinical training at the North West Thames Regional Genetics Service.
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 the 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 DETECT-2 and PROTECT-C.
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 expertise in genetic education and the development of screening services for at-increased risk communities. She completed an MSc in Organisational Psychology at UMIST, then managed R&D projects for an International behavioural risk management agency and as an independent consultant. Katrina founded Jnetics in 2009, the only UK charity dedicated to improving the prevention and management of Jewish genetic disorders. She left the Executive Director role in 2020 to establish and direct the JHC Review.
Annika Idahl
Prof Idahl joined QMUL for a 7-month research sabbatical and is now an Honorary reader in the WPP team. She is a 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 project in collaboration with Professor Manchanda.
Prof Idahl is a recognized university teacher and a member of several scientific advisory boards. Her research revolves around ovarian cancer early detection, prevention and epidemiology.
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.
