Catharine West

Professor of Radiation Biology

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 (now Division) 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 (TORPEdO, 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, EURAMED 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 Radiologists 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. In 2018 she was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists.