Meet the Team
The Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial (YKST) is the first trial of its kind in the world. The study is designed and run by some of the UK's leading researchers in kidney cancer and urology from Cambridge and Leeds universities. The study is funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, coordinated at the University of Cambridge, and delivered in partnership with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the University of Leeds and Leeds City Council.
Professor Grant Stewart - Chief Investigator
Grant is an academic surgeon at the University of Cambridge with a broad and impactful portfolio of translational research and a particular interest in optimising early detection and management of patients with initially localised renal cell cancer. He has been joint Programme lead of the Urological Malignancies Programme since early 2020, following his appointment as Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Cambridge. With over 150 peer reviewed publications and £52 million in research grants and clinical trial income, he is a global leader in renal cell cancer research and coordinates the a group of over 40 clinicians, translational researchers and basic scientists across the Cambridge Biomedical Campus with a shared interest in renal cell cancer research (CamRenCan). Clinically, Grant provides all modes of treatment for kidney cancer, from major open surgery to robotic minimally invasive approaches.
Dr. Juliet Usher-Smith - Co-investigator
Juliet Usher-Smith is a University Lecturer in General Practice and NIHR Advanced Fellow. She joined the Primary Care Unit in Cambridge in 2009 as an Academic Clinical Fellow after graduating from the University of Cambridge in 2007 with a MA MB BChir and a PhD in skeletal muscle physiology. Prior to her current post she was a Clinical Lecturer in General Practice and then a Cancer Research UK Prevention Fellow. She continues to work as a General Practitioner in Cambridge. Her main research interests relate to the development, validation and implementation of risk scores in Primary Care and the potential for introducing risk stratification into cancer screening programmes.
Professor Mat Callister - Co-investigator of YKST and CI of the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial
Professor Callister completed his undergraduate training at Oxford and his junior doctor training in London. He was a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow at the Royal Brompton Hospital and completed his PhD at Imperial College, London. He completed his speciality training in Yorkshire and is currently an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Leeds and Consultant in Respiratory Medicine at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Professor Callister's research interests include the early diagnosis of lung cancer through symptom awareness and low-dose CT screening.
Dr. Jon Cartledge - Principal Investigator at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust
Jon Cartledge is a Consultant Urologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at St. James's University Hospital, Leeds. Dr. Cartledge has been part of the Pyrah Department of Urology at St. James's since 2001 specialising in laparoscopic renal surgery, and performing more laparoscopic nephrectomies per annum than any other urologist in the UK. He developed a laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy service; training and mentoring transplant surgeons to deliver minimally invasive nephrectomies so that all live donors benefit from laparoscopic surgery. His main research interests are renal cancer, minimally invasive surgery, and service development.
Sabrina Rossi - Co-investigator
Sabrina is an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow and Honorary Urology Registrar. She is currently undertaking a PhD and Cancer Research UK Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, gaining experience in genomics and translational research. Prior to this, she completed an MPhil focusing on health economics, funded by the Urology Foundation. This is one of her key interests and her cost-effectiveness analysis of screening for kidney cancer using ultrasound was recently awarded the RSM urology & BAUS academic research prize. Sabrina has also previously led an international initiative involving clinicians, scientists and patients to determine research priorities in renal cancer (European Urology Platinum Priority Editorial).
Having grown up in Italy, Sabrina moved to Glasgow for her undergraduate studies. She was awarded a Wolfson Scholarship, allowing her to undertake an intercalated BSc (Hons). She completed her MBChB and received the Marion Gilchrist Prize and the Trades House Prize for her academic achievements. She worked at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals for two years during her academic foundation programme.
Anna Wright - Associate PI
Anna graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2011 and was awarded an MSc in her early surgical training years. She moved to Yorkshire to complete her specialist registrar training in urology. Anna is currently in the final year of her registrar training, specialising in performing minimally invasive and open renal surgery at St. James's University Hospital.
Suzanne Rogerson - Senior Research Nurse
Suzanne Rogerson is the lead nurse for a nurse-led community lung health check service as part of the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial. She manages a team of 18 research staff. Suzanne has many years of experience as a research nurse, and has worked on medical device CTIMP and screening studies including commercial, non-commercial, and charity funded trials. She has considerable experience in the identification and recruitment of patients; care and observation of patients in study; sample handling and management; maintenance of trial records and effective communication with trial personnel. She has provided education and support to colleagues and presented to Patient and Public Involvement Groups for feedback and comment. Suzanne is a member of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Clinical research Forum, and a Royal College of Nursing Specialist Advisor for NICE technology appraisal, participating on behalf of RCN in the development of NICE guidance. Suzanne's main research interests are screening, oncology, and medical devices.
Fiona Farquhar - Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist, Research
Fiona qualified as a registered nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals in the early 1990s and went on to specialise in renal nursing. Fiona spent the first 15 years of her career caring for renal patients, then worked as a renal research nurse. She got her MA in Health Service Studies at the University of Leeds in 2001. She has spent the last three years working as a research nurse for patients with early stage breast cancer.
Fiona's research interests are around the patient experience of living with cancer and coping with the uncertainty of chronic illness.