Oriel College, University of Oxford, provided a wonderful setting for Against Breast Cancer’s 2nd Biennial Research Conference. Fundraisers, volunteers, research advocates, trustees, scientific advisers, and staff came together to hear about the latest breakthroughs made possible through ABC-funded research.
University of Southampton’s speakers included Dr Charlie Birts, Professors Max Crispin and Steve Beers, and Grace Hayes who revealed how therapeutic antibody engineering can improve treatment and new discoveries shedding light on why obesity not only increases the risk of breast cancer but also makes existing treatments less effective.
Prof Simon Lord, Oriel Senior Research Fellow shared progress on clinical trials including the impact of obesity on cancer treatments and survival outcomes. Tracking BMI (Body Mass Index) changes over time, and linking them to treatment outcomes is helping clinicians design personalised treatments for both lean and obese patients.
The ABC community welcomed two new researchers – Dr Isabela Pedroza-Pacheco, recently awarded a 3-year ABC Oriel College Research Fellowship, described how advanced proteomic and genomic techniques can guide better therapies to boost patient anti-cancer immune responses, whilst Ludovica Tarantola, PhD student at Barts Cancer Institute, spoke about her recently published work describing how sugar molecules within the tumour microenvironment suppress protective immune responses and how these effects may be overcome in triple-negative breast cancer
Attendees were also treated to viewings of the Oriel College 700th anniversary exhibition and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry awarded to Oriel alumnus Alexander Todd.
Richard Bahu, Chair of ABC Trustees, gave poignant tributes to recently departed members of the ABC family. Dr Anthony Leathem, co-founder of the charity, Jeanne Chattoe, former Chair of Trustees and fundraising legend, and trustee Jenni Collins, all sadly passed away in 2026. Richard Martin, Head of Fundraising also paid tribute to the late Dr Victoria Smith-Collins, Research Advocate, who sadly lost her battle with breast cancer this year. Victoria’s bravery and fundraising efforts for ABC were inspirational. Each will be fondly remembered.