Serena Nik-Zainal
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Serena Nik-Zainal | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Awards | Crick Lecture (2021) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Genomics |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge Wellcome Sanger Institute |
| Thesis | Exploring mutational signatures in twenty-one breast cancers (2013) |
| Website | www |
Serena Nik-Zainal is a British-Malaysian clinician who is a consultant in clinical genetics and Cancer Research UK advanced clinician scientist at the University of Cambridge.[1][2] She makes use of genomics for clinical applications. She was awarded the Crick Lecture by the Royal Society in 2021. Serena Nik-Zainal was also recognized as one of the 100 Influential Women in Oncology by OncoDaily.[3]
Nik-Zainal was born in England.[4] Her father was a cardiologist who was involved in the first coronary artery bypass surgery to take place in Malaysia.[5] She was supported by Petronas to attend the University of Cambridge, where she studied medicine.[4] She moved to the Wellcome Sanger Institute in 2009, where she started doctoral research[6] using whole genome sequencing to better understand breast cancer.[7] Whole genome sequencing allows for Nik-Zainal to understand the frequency, distribution and mutation patterns of cancer. She showed that it was possible to identify mutational signatures using downstream analysis, and that algorithms could be used to identify abnormalities quickly. These signatures are left by mutations that occur during the development of cancer. During her research she identified the hypermutation kataegis.[4][8]