Andy Sims
Applied Bioinformatics of Cancer

Research in a Nutshell
The Applied Bioinformatics of Cancer (ABC) group aims to bridge the gap between basic and clinical research using high-throughput genomic approaches. These techniques generate large volumes of data that allow us to test and generate hypotheses to further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms and cellular changes responsible for cancer development and progression, along with the implications for improving treatment and prevention.
The ABC group conducts research focused on bringing meaning to ‘data’ – asking the fundamental questions in precision medicine such as, ‘Which biomarkers will accurately identify specific patients that that will benefit from a particular treatment? ‘, and ‘Does more data create more confusion or a better understanding?’
A key theme in the group is data integration, both combining data of the same or similar types to perform meta-analysis and determine the consensus view; as well as bringing together different, but complementary approaches.

People |
|
Andrew Sims | Principal Investigator and Senior Research Fellow |
Arran Turnbull | Postdoctoral Research Associate |
Cigdem Selli | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow |
Dominic Pearce | PhD student |
Richard Bownes | PhD student |
Nick Moir | PhD student |
Duniya Mosly | PhD student (co-supervised with Simon Langdon) |
Robb Hollis | PhD student (co-supervised with Charlie Gourley) |
Matina Fragkogianni |
PhD student (co-supervised with Jeff Pollard) |
Ajit Nirmal | PhD student (co-supervised with Tom Freeman) |
Anu Fernando | Technician |
Contact
Collaborations
- Professor Jeff Pollard, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Val Brunton, University of Edinburgh
-
Dr Olga Oikonomidou, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Keith Brennan, University of Manchester
- Dr Rob Clarke, University of Manchester
- Prof Chandra Kanduri, University of Gothenburg
- Prof Karoline Briegel, University of Miami
- Dr Aymen Idris, University of Sheffield
- Prof Janet Brown, University of Sheffield
- Prof Fiona Watt, Kings College London
Partners and Funders
- Breast Cancer Now
- Cancer Research UK
- European Research Council
Scientific Themes
Cancer, stratified medicine, breast cancer, treatment response prediction, window studies, genomics, data integration, meta-analysis
Technology Expertise
Microarrays, sequencing, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics analysis, biomarker selection, sample classification, machine learning, survival analysis