Professor Jessica Okosun
MA, MB BChir, MRCP, FRCPath, PhD
Professor of Translational Cancer Research
Group Leader
TwitterResearch Focus
My research focuses on understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms that underlie the initiation and progression of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in order to define clinically-relevant biomarkers.
Key Publications
Genomic Profiling Reveals Spatial Intra-Tumor Heterogeneity in Follicular Lymphoma. Leukemia (2018) 32(5):1258-1263. PMID: 29568095
Early loss of Crebbp confers malignant stem cell properties on lymphoid progenitors. Nat Cell Biol (2017) 19(9):1093-1104. PMID: 28825697
Recurrent mTORC1-activating RRAGC mutations in follicular lymphoma. Nature Genetics (2016) 48(2):183-8. PMID: 26691987
Integrated genomic analysis identifies recurrent mutations and evolution patterns driving the initiation and progression of follicular lymphoma. Nature Genetics (2014) 46(2):176-81. PMID: 24362818
Major Funding
- 2018-2023- Cancer Research UK Accelerator Award (Co-investigator)
- 2017-2022 - Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist Fellowship, £1.4M
- 2011-2015 - Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund Junior Clinical Research Fellowship, £290,000
Other Activities
- Associate Editor for eJHaem (2020-)
- Member of International Advisory Board for Lancet Haematology (2020-)
- Chair of the CRUK Barts Centre Patient and Public Involvement Research Advisory Group
- Expert Panel, Lymphoma Connect
Research
I have a research interest in B-cell Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Our current focus is on follicular lymphoma, an indolent malignancy that remains incurable and for which the typical clinical course is one where patients relapse on several occasions eventually becoming therapy resistant. Our main research questions are to:
- Understand the molecular processes that govern lymphoma initiation
- Characterise intra-tumour heterogeneity and evolution and their role in lymphoma progression
- Define novel biomarkers that can be translated to clinical practice
To address these questions, we aim to utilise primary lymphoma samples in combination with cutting-edge tools, in vitro and in vivo approaches.
Other Activities
- Associate Editor for eJHaem (2020-)
- Member of International Advisory Board for Lancet Haematology (2020-)
- Member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee for the Lady Tata Memorial Trust (2020-)
- Chair of the CRUK Barts Centre Patient and Public Involvement Research Advisory Group
- Expert Panel, Lymphoma Connect
- Member of the European Haematology Association
- Member of the NCRI Low Grade Lymphoma Subgroup
- Member of the NCRI Primary CNS Lymphoma Working Party
Major Funding
- 2018-2023- Cancer Research UK Accelerator Award (Co-investigator)
- 2017-2022 - Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist Fellowship, £1.4M
- 2011-2015 - Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund Junior Clinical Research Fellowship, £290,000
Recent Publications
Targeting lysine demethylase 5 (KDM5) in mantle cell lymphoma Xu D, Bewicke-Copley F, Close K et al. Blood Cancer Journal 14(10) 29
Defining an Optimized Workflow for Enriching and Analyzing Residual Tumor Populations Using Intracellular Markers Coulter EM, Bewicke-Copley F, Mossner M et al. Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (2024) 26(10) 245-256
Impact of MYC and BCL2 double expression on outcomes in Primary CNS Lymphoma: a UK multicenter analysis. Poynton E, Chernucha E, Day JW et al. Blood Advances (2023) (10)
DLBCL arising from indolent lymphomas: how are they different? Parry EM, Roulland S, Okosun J Seminars in Hematology (2023) (10)
ABCL-184 Impact of MYC and BCL2 Double Expression on Outcomes in Primary CNS Lymphoma: A UK Multicenter Analysis Poynton E, Chernucha E, Day J et al. Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma & Leukemia (2023) 23(10) s423-s424
EXABS-109-LYM Should We Use Prognostic Indices and/or Biomarkers to Guide Therapy in Follicular Lymphoma? Okosun J Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma & Leukemia (2023) 23(10) s11-s13
POSTER: ABCL-184 Impact of MYC and BCL2 Double Expression on Outcomes in Primary CNS Lymphoma: A UK Multicenter Analysis Poynton E, Chernucha E, Day J et al. Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma & Leukemia (2023) 23(10) s200
Personalised therapy in follicular lymphoma – is the dial turning? Linton KM, Specht L, Pavlovsky A et al. Hematological Oncology (2023) (10)
Longitudinal expression profiling identifies a poor risk subset of patients with ABC-type diffuse large B-cell lymphoma Bewicke-Copley F, Korfi K, Araf S et al. Blood Advances (2023) 7(10) 845-855
IBRAP: integrated benchmarking single-cell RNA-sequencing analytical pipeline Knight CH, Khan F, Patel A et al. Briefings in Bioinformatics (2023) 24(10) bbad061
For additional publications, please click hereTeam
Postdoctoral Researchers
- Carina Edmondson
Clinical Research Fellows/PhD students
- Dr Emil Kumar (co-supervision with Professor Jude Fitzgibbon)
- Dr Lucy Pickard
PhD students
- Megan Perrett
Academic Clinical Fellows
- Dr Edward Poynton
Biography
I graduated in medicine from the University of Cambridge and subsequently undertook my medical and specialty registrar haematology training in London. My research interests in lymphoma biology was developed during my Kay Kendall funded Clinical Research Fellowship with Professor Jude Fitzgibbon at the Barts Cancer Institute where I investigated the genetic heterogeneity and tumour evolution underlying follicular lymphoma and its progression. I was awarded the Royal College of Pathologists Specialty Research Medal for this work.
I returned to the Barts Cancer Institute as a Clinical Senior Lecturer in 2017 and will also be working with collaborators at the Francis Crick Institute.
Appointments
2017 to present: Clinical Senior Lecturer
2011-2015: Kay Kendall Clinical Research Fellow, Barts Cancer Institute
Qualifications
2015: PhD, Queen Mary University of London
2011: FRCPath, Royal College of Pathologists
2008: MRCP, Royal College of Physicians
2004: MB BChir, University of Cambridge
2002: BA (Hons) Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge