Dr Greg Wells

BSc (Hons), PhD.

Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health

Ex vivo Project Lead

g.wells@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 215 9077

+44 114 215 9098

FU03, F Floor, The Medical School

Full contact details

Dr Greg Wells
Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health
FU03, F Floor
The Medical School
Beech Hill Road
Sheffield
S10 2RX

Profile

For enquiries, please contact - SMPH-West-Operational@sheffield.ac.uk

I studied biomedical science at Sheffield Hallam University in 2013 where I was awarded the President’s Prize from the Institute of Biomedical Science, the Undergraduate Prize from the British Society for Immunology, and the Pfizer Global R&D Prize for best performance in Analytical Science.

Following this I worked in industry, designing and validating genetic based assays for clinical trials in a GLP compliant laboratory. I then undertook a PhD between the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Diagnostics Genetics Services NHS and AstraZeneca investigating genetics biomarkers and transcriptomic signatures in lung cancer.

In 2020 I established the ex vivo drug screening group at the University of Sheffield.

Research interests

My research interests are developing and advancing clinically relevant methods of patient stratification to targeted oncology therapeutics. Genetic biomarkers have dominated personal medicine for the last 20 years, but it is becoming clear that one molecular aberration may not drive the whole neoplastic process, so this approach does not always result in responses to molecular targeted therapy.

At the University of Sheffield alongside collaborators we are developing a phenotypic drug screen which can be used directly on a patient’s biopsy or surgical tissue to generate a pharmacological profile of the patient’s tumour. We are currently testing this methodology in the proof of concept Ex VIvo DEtermiNed cancer Therapy (EVIDENT) trial. Our aim is to develop this into a predictive diagnostic test used to direct cancer patients’ treatment, adding an extra dimension to precision medicine.

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Featured publications

Journal articles

Rahman MM, Wells G, Rantala JK, Helleday T, Muthana M & Danson SJ (2024) In-vitro assays for immuno-oncology drug efficacy assessment and screening for personalized cancer therapy: scopes and challenges. Expert Review of Clinical Immunology. View this article in WRRO
Gagg H, Williams ST, Conroy S, Myers KN, McGarrity-Cottrell C, Jones C, Helleday T, Rantala J, Rominiyi O, Danson SJ , Collis SJ et al (2023) Ex-vivo drug screening of surgically resected glioma stem cells to replace murine avatars and provide personalise cancer therapy for glioblastoma patients. F1000Research, 12. View this article in WRRO
Williams ST, Wells G, Conroy S, Gagg H, Allen R, Rominiyi O, Helleday T, Hullock K, Pennington CEW, Rantala J , Collis SJ et al (2022) Precision oncology using ex vivo technology: a step towards individualised cancer care?. Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine, 24. View this article in WRRO
Mäkelä R, Härmä V, Fajardo NB, Wells G, Lygerou Z, Sangfelt O, Kononen J & Rantala JK (2021) Ex vivo analysis of DNA repair targeting in extreme rare cutaneous apocrine sweat gland carcinoma. Oncotarget.

All publications

Journal articles

Rahman MM, Wells G, Rantala JK, Helleday T, Muthana M & Danson SJ (2024) In-vitro assays for immuno-oncology drug efficacy assessment and screening for personalized cancer therapy: scopes and challenges. Expert Review of Clinical Immunology. View this article in WRRO
Gagg H, Williams ST, Conroy S, Myers KN, McGarrity-Cottrell C, Jones C, Helleday T, Rantala J, Rominiyi O, Danson SJ , Collis SJ et al (2023) Ex-vivo drug screening of surgically resected glioma stem cells to replace murine avatars and provide personalise cancer therapy for glioblastoma patients. F1000Research, 12. View this article in WRRO
Williams ST, Wells G, Conroy S, Gagg H, Allen R, Rominiyi O, Helleday T, Hullock K, Pennington CEW, Rantala J , Collis SJ et al (2022) Precision oncology using ex vivo technology: a step towards individualised cancer care?. Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine, 24. View this article in WRRO
Mäkelä R, Härmä V, Fajardo NB, Wells G, Lygerou Z, Sangfelt O, Kononen J & Rantala JK (2021) Ex vivo analysis of DNA repair targeting in extreme rare cutaneous apocrine sweat gland carcinoma. Oncotarget.
Silva S, Danson S, Teare MD, Taylor F, Bradford J, McDonagh A, Salawu A, Wells G, Burghel G, Brock I , Connley D et al (2018) Genome-wide analysis of circulating cell-free DNA copy number detects active melanoma and predicts survival . Clinical Chemistry, 64(9), 1338-1346. View this article in WRRO
Zhao A, Maple L, Jiang J, Myers KN, Jones CG, Gagg H, McGarrity-Cottrell C, Rominiyi O, Collis SJ, Wells G , Rahman M et al () SENP3-FIS1 axis promotes mitophagy and cell survival under hypoxia. Cell Death & Disease, 15(12).

Conference proceedings papers

Rahman MM, Wells G, Rantala J, Helleday T, Muthana M & Danson S (2023) 2302P Efficacy assessment of targeted and immunotherapies for personalised treatment of melanoma using 2D and 3D ex-vivo assays. Annals of Oncology, Vol. 34 (pp S1177-S1177)
Gagg H, Williams S, Rominiyi O, Danson S, Collis S & Wells G (2023) DEVELOPMENT OF GLIEXP; A HIGH-THROUGHPUT EX VIVO DRUG SCREENING PLATFORM FOR GLIOBLASTOMA. Neuro-Oncology, Vol. 25(Supplement_3) (pp iii5-iii6)
Gagg H, Williams S, Allen R, Conroy S, Rominiyi O, Wells G, Rantala J, Danson S, Helleday T & Collis S (2022) F-1286: Ex vivo-led drug discovery in glioblastoma. Brain Tumor Research and Treatment, Vol. 10(Suppl) (pp s240). Seoul, Korea, 24 March 2022 - 24 March 2022. View this article in WRRO
Wells G, Kohlmann A, Ratcliffe M, Wilson G, Dalton A & Danson S (2018) Identifying functionally important aberrations of Neurofibromin-1 (NF1) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). European Journal of Surgical Oncology, Vol. 44 (pp S36-S36)
Wells G, Kohlmann A, Ratcliffe M, Wilson G, Dalton A & Danson S (2017) Identifying functionally important aberrations of Neurofibromin-1 (NF1) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). European Journal of Surgical Oncology, Vol. 43(11) (pp 2233-2233)

Presentations

Wells G Utilising ex vivo imaging to measure drug action at the single cell level using a live biopsy. Nottingham.
Wells G Ex vivo Determined Cancer Therapy. Sheffield.

Research group

Prof Sarah Danson (Clinical Lead)
Dr Hannah Gagg (Postdoctoral Research Associate)
Dr Jamie Adams (Postdoctoral Research Associate / Image Specialist)
Dr Nikita Lad (Postdoctoral Research Associate)
Dr Alberto Biancardi (Image Computing Staff Scientist)
Ms Helen Shulver (Senior Research Technician, QA)
Dr Rachel Turner (Research Technician)
Ms Angela Green (Senior Research Nurse)
Ms Vicky Hallworth (Senior Research Nurse)
Ms Sarah Clarke (Clinical Trials Assistant)
Dr Md Marufur Rahman (Clinical PhD Student)
Ms Miriam Arrulo (PhD Student)
Mr Louis Lane (PhD Student)
Mr Callum Blee (PhD Student)

Grants

Yorkshire Cancer Research Programme Award
Western Park Cancer Charity
LifeArc
Medical Research Council

Teaching activities

Msc – Cancer Biology and Therapeutics
MSc - Molecular Medicine