Welcome to the Department of Oncology

Head of Department: Professor Mark Middleton

The Department of Oncology’s mission is to improve cancer care through research and teaching. To do this, the Department delivers research in linked themes of Radiation Biology, Genome Integrity, the Tumour Microenvironment and Host Tumour Interactions. There is a strong emphasis on translation, with established infrastructure to develop scientific insights towards clinical application.

The number of research groups in the Department has grown significantly over the last seven years with six new groups and associated Principal Investigators joining the Department. Fundamental to our approach is to train students in translational, as well as basic, science so that they acquire key transferable skills during their time with us. Programmes are usually multidisciplinary and, as described below, attract high quality committed candidates who stay the course. Our translational focus makes us an attractive destination for Industry and we are growing the financial contribution to studentships from this source.

The Department houses over 400 staff and postgraduate students - both clinical and non-clinical - and is one of the largest departments in the University of Oxford’s Medical Sciences Division. It is home to the CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology.

It brings together research and clinical groups from across Oxford who are based in the Old Road Campus Research Building, the Radiobiology Research Institute, the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine and the NHS Cancer and Haematology Centre.