The Christie Charity
Fiona Blackhall
Name
Fiona Blackhall
Job title
Professor of Thoracic Oncology and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology
Email Address
linda.scott23@nhs.net
Phone number
0161 446 3745
Qualifications
BSc, MBChB, FRCP, PhD, CCST
Specialities
Medical oncology, Lung
Started at The Christie (Year)
2005
Responsibilities
- Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence Clinical Trials Theme Lead; lead Optimising Lung Cytology and Molecular Pathology in Collaboration (OLYMPIC); Lung Disease Group Chair; site lead for lung cancer clinical trials team and translational research; clinical co-lead Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre network; clinical appraiser.
- Clinical Senior Lecturer at Manchester University; Steering committee member of The British Thoracic Oncology Group; Translational sub group Co-chair of The European Thoracic Oncology Platform; Member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, The European Society of Medical Oncology and The American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Professional biography
Professor Fiona Blackhall is a consultant medical oncologist and director of the research and innovation division at The Christie, and professor of thoracic oncology at The University of Manchester.
In 1997, Professor Blackhall was awarded a Cancer Research Campaign PhD Fellowship for a clinician in the field of angiogenesis and in collaboration with Judah Folkman. In 2001, she undertook a clinical and post-doctoral fellowship at Princess Margaret Hospital and Ontario Cancer Institute in molecular pathology of lung cancer, biomarkers and drug development.
Professor Blackhall is the clinical translational and biomarkers theme lead for the Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence. She has served as clinical lead of the Greater Manchester Cancer Genomics Pathway Board, clinical cancer lead of the North West NHS Genomics Laboratory Hub, NIHR GM Clinical Research Network Lung cancer lead, chair of the Advanced Disease Subgroup of the UK NCRI Lung Cancer Research Group, and co-chair of the Translational Subgroup of the European Thoracic Oncology Platform.
She has been a faculty member for The European Society of Medical Oncology, The European Lung Cancer Conference, The American Society of Medical Oncology Annual Meeting and The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
In Manchester, since 2005, Professor Blackhall has created an environment for research spanning lung cancer biology, liquid biomarkers, novel therapies, phase I-III clinical trials, radiotherapy and supportive care with over 250 publications in these areas. She has collaborated with Professor Caroline Dive since 2007 on internationally leading research in circulating tumour cells.
In 2020, Professor Blackhall received The ESMO/IASLC Heine H. Hansen Award which recognises outstanding contribution to lung cancer research and education. In 2021, she was appointed to director of the research and innovation division at The Christie to bring a strategy of operational transformation to accelerate access to an inclusive research portfolio. She is an advocate of team science and has enjoyed numerous collaborations with like-minded colleagues across the globe with the collective aim to make lung cancer a less deadly disease.
Research Interest
Research into new treatments and clinical trials for patients with lung cancer; identification of new molecular targets in lung cancer and the development of personalised medicine; uncovering biomarkers circulating in the blood stream to diagnose or monitor a patient’s disease without requiring invasive biopsy techniques.