Women in Cancer Network
The Women in Cancer Network aims to foster greater inclusion and representation for women in cancer sciences across the MCRC, DCS, CRUK and The Christie.
We aim to create an environment where all women feel empowered and valued, building a more equitable and inclusive culture for all.
The network meets monthly and is chaired by Dr Simona Valletta.
Our Vision
Our goal is to create a strong network and improve opportunities and visibility for women in cancer sciences. We aim to:
- Champion Diversity & Inclusion: we are committed to embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion in all we do. Our goal is to address the unique challenges faced by women within the field of cancer sciences, advocating for equal opportunities to allow women to thrive and achieve their full potential.
- Offer Support & Mentorship: empowering women through our WOMENtorship in Cancer Sciences and Women in Leadership programmes, as well as ongoing and future events & opportunities.
- Provide opportunities and resources: collate and share insightful resources, opportunities, and news for women in cancer sciences through our website and across our mailing list to support women in their personal and professional growth.
Women in Leadership Programme 2025
The Women in Leadership Programme is run by an external organisation, Milly Sinclair Associates, and is co-funded by DCS and MCRC. The programme is tailored to women bridging the gap towards independence/that have just established their groups, to support progression from post-doc to independent researcher amongst women and address the gender disparity that still exists in higher academic positions. The open call from applicants was oversubscribed by ~2-fold and we aim to run it again in 2026.
WOMENtorship in Cancer Sciences programme
Our newly launched and still growing mentorship scheme is designed to connect women in cancer sciences. Each mentee will be paired with a more senior mentor that will help them to achieve their full potential on a career-development level, also offering guidance and advice on challenges that women experience in academia.
International Women’s Day celebrations
The Women in Cancer Network host annual International Women’s Day events to celebrate achievements and emphasise the importance of recognising the invaluable role of women in science.
In 2024 the event featured a series of insightful talks, panel discussions, and interactive workshops from empowering women internal and external to the university.
In 2025, the WiC network provided an engaging lunch event, featuring informal personal talks from mentors on the new WOMENtorship in Cancer Sciences programme, who shared issues they faced as women working in academia, and talked about the importance of mentoring junior colleagues.
WOMENtorship in Cancer Sciences Mentorship Scheme
Our newly launched and still growing mentorship scheme is designed to connect women in cancer sciences.
Each mentee is paired with a more senior mentor that will help them to achieve their full potential on a career-development level, also offering guidance and advice on challenges that women experience in academia.
Below are our current senior mentors:
Aliah Hawari
Computational biologist specialising in cancer genomics and data science with expertise in identifying genomic drivers of tumour evolution. Malaysian-born and educated before completing my PhD at University of Oxford, I bring global perspective to my research on diversity and ethnicity in cancer genomics and early detection strategies. Now a postdoctoral research associate at University of Manchester and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). My international journey and experience balancing academic advancement with family responsibilities positions me to mentor women navigating similar paths in science.
Mentoring areas:
- Women in computational biology/bioinformatics
- Research field transition
- International academic / academic mobility
Frances Turrell
Lecturer in Cancer Biology. Research focussed on investigating how the microenvironment influences tumour progression, dormancy, and metastasis in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, with a focus on age-related changes that promote metastatic relapse, aiming to identify high-risk patients and develop novel therapeutic and immunotherapy strategies to prevent late-stage metastasis and improve treatment outcomes.
Having recently embarked on my independent research career and started my own group, I can offer mentorship to those who are uncertain about their future career direction or whether to embark on the path to become a researcher leader. This includes mentorship around some of the challenges that are often encountered and that I have faced myself, (e.g. low confidence/self-doubt, how to build a network, how to become resilient and keep momentum, how to maintain a healthy work-life balance), and ways to navigate/overcome these.
Additionally, throughout my research career I have worked in many labs under supervisors/PIs with very different personalities and leadership styles and so I can offer mentorship around work/supervisor relationships and navigating conflict.
Mentoring areas:
- Career progression
- Transition to independence
- Work-life balance
- Effective supervision/leadership
- Navigating conflict
- Building self-confidence/ overcoming imposter syndrome
- Research project management/ research skills
Sarah Kitson
Clinician Scientist / Hon Consultant. Research focussed on endometrial cancer prevention and developing models to identify women at high risk of the disease within the general population. Establishing a career as a female academic surgeon is extremely challenging, evidenced by a paucity of role models. I would love to help mentor individuals thinking of pursing such a career path and to offer my own experience for support.
Mentoring areas:
- Combining clinical and academic careers, particularly for craft specialities
- Striving to achieve a work-life balance
- Developing research independence post PhD
Angela Davey
Physicist working in cancer research, radiotherapy and paediatrics late effects. My career and research interests are underpinned by the goal of improving patient outcome by using real-world healthcare data. I have expertise in statistical analysis for complex datasets and medical images. My current work aims to use routine data to develop kinder radiotherapy treatments to minimise late effects in childhood cancer survivors. [MPhys, PhD, and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Manchester.]
Mentoring areas:
- Navigating tricky transitions, e.g. PhD to Post-doc.
- Beginning to establish independence during your post-doc years (e.g., identifying grant opportunities, confidently putting yourself forward for new opportunities)
- Share learnings from my experience with leadership coaching (e.g., staying true to your values and vision, daily habits for building confidence, finding and using your voice)
- Dealing with setbacks, anxieties, and impostor syndrome (something I still work on every day!)
Get involved
We are always looking to expand and recruit new members to help grow the network and support our ongoing goals and projects.
If you wish to join the network, please contact simona.valletta@manchester.ac.uk
You can also follow us on X (Twitter) @WiCN_Manchester
