Staff Profile

Qualifications

PhD (Newcastle University Medical Sciences Doctoral Thesis Prize), Newcastle University, 2015

Certificate of Medical Education, Newcastle University, 2009

MRCPCH, Royal College of Paediatrics, 2006

MB BCh (with Commendation), University of Wales College of Medicine, 2003

Previous Positions

Dec 2020-present, MRC Clinician Scientist & Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Oncology,

Newcastle University Centre for Cancer & Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Trust

Mar 2019-Dec 2020, Clinical Fellow & Locum Consultant in Paediatric Oncology,

Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Trust

Mar 2015-Mar 2019, NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer, Northern Institute for Cancer Research

Sept 2014-Mar 2015, Paediatric Oncology National Grid Trainee, Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Trust

Mar 2010-Sept 2014, Clinical Research Associate, Northern Institute for Cancer Research

Sept 2008-Sept 2014, Paediatric Oncology Registrar, Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Trust

Mar 2007-Sept 2008, Paediatric Specialist Registrar, Northern Deanery

Aug 2006-Mar 2007, Paediatric Senior House Officer, Rhondda Cynon Taff NHS Trust

Aug 2004-Aug 2006, Paediatric Senior House Officer, Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust

Aug 2003-Aug2004, Pre-Registration House Officer, Swansea/Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust

Awards and Funding

Academy of Medical Sciences: Starter Grant

https://acmedsci.ac.uk

Action Medical Research Clinical Research Fellowship

https://www.action.org.uk

Cancer Research UK: Research Training Bursary

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org

Children's Cancer North Postgraduate Research Studentship

https://childrenscancernorth.org.uk

Children with Cancer Research Project Grant

https://www.childrenwithcancer.org.uk

European Society for Paediatric Oncology: Merit Award

https://www.siope.eu

Fight Kids Cancer Project Grant

https://kickcancer.org

ITCC: Society Ambassador, Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop

https://www.ecco-org.eu/Events/MCCR-Workshop

JGW Patterson Foundation: Bridging Funding, Project Grant and Research Grant

http://jgwpattersonfoundation.co.uk

Little Princess Trust Innovation Award

https://www.littleprincesses.org.uk

MRC Clinical Scientist Fellowship

https://www.ukri.org/councils/mrc

NECCR: Postgraduate Research Studentships

https://www.neccr.org.uk

Newcastle University: Medical Sciences Doctoral Thesis Prize

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/fms/postgrad/awards/awards.htm

Professional Memberships

Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer Brain Tumour Committee

Co-chair; International Society for Paediatric Oncology Europe (SIOPE) Relapsed medulloblastoma working group

SIOPE Embryonal Brain Tumour Group

Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) - Brain Tumour Special Interest Group and Research Advisory Group

UK Embryonal Brain Tumour Group

British Medical Association

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

The British Association for Cancer Research

European Association for Cancer Research

Research Interests

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumour of childhood. Despite intensive, multimodal upfront-therapy (neurosurgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy), relapse occurs in approximately 30% of patients and is almost universally fatal. Furthermore, relapse accounts for the majority of deaths in medulloblastoma, and a considerable, disproportionate amount of childhood cancer deaths overall.

In the past decade there has been an unprecedented expansion in our understanding of medulloblastoma at diagnosis, for example the discovery of the four consensus molecular subgroups (MB_WNT, MB_SHH, MB_Group3 and MB_Group4) and their translation into clinical trials and improved treatment stratification. Despite these discoveries in the disease at diagnosis, equivalent advances have yet to be made in the disease at relapse.  

However, work undertaken by the Paediatric Brain Tumour Group, NUCC, indicates that treatment selection pressure drives the evolution of therapy-resistance and disease recurrence in medulloblastoma. Parallel and convergent mechanisms of disease progression and treatment resistance are witnessed in a variety of cancer types, providing hope that these mechanisms are predictable and consequently therapeutically targetable.  My particular area of research therefore focuses on understanding the evolving biology of medulloblastoma recurrence, aiming to identify, anticipate, and target these mechanisms to reduce relapse rates and improve disease survival.

• Articles

  • Goddard J, Castle J, Southworth E, Fletcher A, Crosier S, Martin-Guerrero I, Garcia-Ariza M, Navajas A, Masliah-Planchon J, Bourdeaut F, Dufour C, Ayrault O, Goschzik T, Pietsch T, Sill M, Pfister SM, Rutkowski S, Richardson S, Hill RM, Williamson D, Bailey S, Schwalbe EC, Clifford SC, Hicks D. Molecular characterisation defines clinically-actionable heterogeneity within Group 4 medulloblastoma and improves disease risk-stratification. Acta Neuropathologica 2023, 145, 651–666.
  • Mainwaring OJ, Weishaupt H, Zhao M, Rosen G, Borgenvik A, Breinschmid L, Verbaan AD, Richardson S, Thompson D, Clifford SC, Hill RM, Annusver K, Sundstrom A, Holmberg KO, Kasper M, Hutter S, Swartling FJ. ARF suppression by MYC but not MYCN confers increased malignancy of aggressive pediatric brain tumors. Nature Communications 2023, 14(1), 1221.
  • Ramanathan S, Hill RM, Ryles J, Halliday G, Mitra D, Bailey S. A Primary Spinal Nongerminomatous Germ Cell Tumor With Multiple Intracranial Metastases in a Toddler. Journal of Pediatric Hematology / Oncology 2023, 45(3), e415-e418.
  • Danilenko M, Zaka M, Keeling C, Crosier S, Lyman S, Finetti M, Williamson D, Hussain R, Coxhead J, Zhou P, Hill RM, Hicks D, Rand V, Joshi A, Schwalbe EC, Bailey S, Clifford SC. Single-cell DNA sequencing identifies risk-associated clonal complexity and evolutionary trajectories in childhood medulloblastoma development. Acta Neuropathologica 2022, 144, 565–578.
  • Williamson D, Schwalbe EC, Hicks D, Aldinger KA, Lindsey JC, Crosier S, Richardson S, Goddard J, Hill RM, Castle J, Grabovska Y, Hacking J, Pizer B, Wharton SB, Jacques TS, Joshi A, Bailey S, Clifford SC. Medulloblastoma group 3 and 4 tumors comprise a clinically and biologically significant expression continuum reflecting human cerebellar development. Cell Reports 2022, 40(5), 111162.
  • Borgenvik A, Holmberg KO, Bolin S, Zhao M, Savov V, Rosen G, Hutter S, Garancher A, Rahmanto AS, Bergstrom T, Olsen TK, Mainwaring OJ, Sattanino D, Verbaan AD, Rusert JM, Sundstrom A, Bravo MB, Dang Y, Wenz AS, Richardson S, Fotaki G, Hill RM, Dubuc AM, Kalushkova A, Remke M, Cancer M, Jernberg-Wiklund H, Giraud G, Chen X, Taylor MD, Sangfelt O, Clifford SC, Schuller U, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Weishaupt H, Swartling FJ. Dormant SOX9-Positive Cells Facilitate MYC-Driven Recurrence of Medulloblastoma. Cancer Research 2022, 82(24), 4586-4603.
  • Verity SJ, Bell L, Ryles J, Hill RM. “I Feel Happy Again”: Methylphenidate Supports Health-Related Quality of Life in Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumor. Children 2022, 9(7), 1058.
  • Hicks D, Rafiee G, Schwalbe EC, Howell CI, Lindsey JC, Hill RM, Smith AJ, Adidharma P, Steel C, Richardson S, Pease L, Danilenko M, Crosier S, Joshi A, Wharton SB, Jacques TS, Pizer B, Michalski A, Williamson D, Bailey S, Clifford SC. The molecular landscape and associated clinical experience in infant medulloblastoma: prognostic significance of second-generation subtypes. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology 2021, 47(2), 236-250.
  • Hill RM, Richardson S, Schwalbe EC, Hicks D, Lindsey JC, Crosier S, Rafiee G, Grabovska Y, Wharton SB, Jacques TS, Michalski A, Joshi A, Pizer B, Williamson D, Bailey S, Clifford SC. Time, pattern, and outcome of medulloblastoma relapse and their association with tumour biology at diagnosis and therapy: a multicentre cohort study. The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health 2020, 4(12), 865-874.
  • Grabovska Y, Mackay A, O'Hare P, Crosier S, Finetti M, Schwalbe EC, Pickles JC, Fairchild AR, Avery A, Cockle J, Hill R, Lindsey J, Hicks D, Kristiansen M, Chalker J, Anderson J, Hargrave D, Jacques TS, Straathof K, Bailey S, Jones C, Clifford SC, Williamson D. Pediatric pan-central nervous system tumor analysis of immune-cell infiltration identifies correlates of antitumor immunity. Nature Communications 2020, 11(1), 4324.
  • Sharma T, Schwalbe EC, Williamson D, Sill M, Hovestadt V, Mynarek M, Rutkowski S, Robinson GW, Gajjar A, Cavalli F, Ramaswamy V, Taylor MD, Lindsey JC, Hill RM, Jager N, Korshunov A, Hicks D, Bailey S, Kool M, Chavez L, Northcott PA, Pfister SM, Clifford SC. Second-generation molecular subgrouping of medulloblastoma: an international meta-analysis of Group 3 and Group 4 subtypes. Acta Neuropathologica 2019, 138, 309-326.
  • Pickles JC, Fairchild AR, Stone TJ, Brownlee L, Merve A, Yasin SA, Avery A, Ahmed SW, Ogunbiyi O, Gonzalez-Zapata J, Peary AF, Edwards M, Wilkhu L, Dryden C, Ladon D, Kristiansen M, Rowe C, Kurian KM, Nicoll JAR, Mitchell C, Bloom T, Hilton DA, Al-Sarraj S, Doey L, Johns PN, Bridges LR, Chakrabarty A, Ismail A, Rathi N, Syed K, Lammie GA, Limback-Stanic C, Smith C, Torgersen A, Rae F, Hill RM, Clifford SC, Grabovska Y, Williamson D, Clarke M, Jones C, Capper D, Sill M, vonDeimling A, Pfister SM, Jones DTW, Hargrave D, Chalker J, Jacques TS. DNA methylation-based profiling for paediatric CNS tumour diagnosis and treatment: a population-based study. Lancet Child and Adolescent Health 2019, 4(2), 121-130.
  • Schwalbe EC, Lindsey JC, Nakjang S, Crosier S, Smith AJ, Hicks D, Rafiee G, Hill RM, Iliasova A, Stone T, Pizer B, Michalski A, Joshi A, Wharton SB, Jacques TS, Bailey S, Williamson D, Clifford SC. Novel molecular subgroups for clinical classification and outcome prediction in childhood medulloblastoma: a cohort study. The Lancet Oncology 2017, 18(7), 958-971.
  • Izquierdo E, Yuan L, George S, Hubank M, Jones C, Proszek P, Shipley J, Gatz SA, Stinson C, Moore AS, Clifford SC, Hicks D, Lindsey JC, Hill RM, Jacques TS, Chalker J, Thway K, O'Connor S, Marshall L, Moreno L, Pearson A, Chesler L, Walker BA, De Castro DG. Development of a targeted sequencing approach to identify prognostic, predictive and diagnostic markers in paediatric solid tumours. Oncotarget 2017, 8(67), 112036-112050.
  • Hill RM, Kuijper S, Lindsey JC, Petrie K, Schwalbe EC, Barker K, Boult JKR, Williamson D, Ahmad Z, Hallsworth A, Ryan SL, Poon E, Robinson SP, Ruddle R, Raynaud FI, Howell L, Kwok C, Joshi A, Nicholson SL, Crosier S, Ellison DW, Wharton SB, Robson K, Michalski A, Hargrave D, Jacques TS, Pizer B, Bailey S, Swartling FJ, Weiss WA, Chesler L, Clifford SC. Combined MYC and P53 Defects Emerge at Medulloblastoma Relapse and Define Rapidly Progressive, Therapeutically Targetable Disease. Cancer Cell 2015, 27(1), 72-84.
  • Zhukova N, Ramaswamy V, Remke M, Pfaff E, Shih DJ, Martin DC, Castelo-Branco P, Baskin B, Ray PN, Bouffet E, von-Bueren AO, Jones DT, Northcott PA, Kool M, Sturm D, Pugh TJ, Pomeroy SL, Cho YJ, Pietsch T, Gessi M, Rutkowski S, Bognar L, Klekner A, Cho BK, Kim SK, Wang KC, Eberhart CG, Fevre-Montange M, Fouladi M, French PJ, Kros M, Grajkowska WA, Gupta N, Weiss WA, Hauser P, Jabado N, Jouvet A, Jung S, Kumabe T, Lach B, Leonard JR, Rubin JB, Liau LM, Massimi L, Pollack IF, Shin-Ra Y, Van-Meir EG, Zitterbart K, Schüller U, Hill RM, Lindsey JC, Schwalbe EC, Bailey S, Ellison DW, Hawkins C, Malkin D, Clifford SC, Korshunov A, Pfister S, Taylor MD, Tabori U. Subgroup-Specific Prognostic Implications of TP53 Mutation in Medulloblastoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2013, 31(23), 2927-2935.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Williamson D, Lindsey JC, Hicks D, Crosier S, Smith A, Bashton M, Hill R, Joshi A, Jacques TS, Schwalbe EC, Bailey S, Clifford SC. The Transcriptional Landscape of Medulloblastoma: Group 3 and Group 4 Tumours Comprise a Single Clinically Significant Expression Continuum. In: 17th International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (ISPNO). 2016, Liverpool, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Hicks D, Rafiee G, Schwalbe E, Howell C, Lindsey J, Hill R, Smith A, Crosier S, Joshi A, Robson K, Wharton S, Jacques T, Williamson D, Bailey S, Clifford S. Subgroup-Directed Stratification of Risk in Infant Medulloblastoma. In: 17th International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (ISPNO). 2016, Liverpool, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Lindsey JC, Hill RM, Schwalbe EC, Shrimpton ER, Howell CI, Rafiee G, Crosier S, Smith A, Ryan SL, Williamson D, Bailey S, Clifford SC. Molecular and Prognostic Heterogeneity within MYC and MYCN Amplified Medulloblastomas. In: International Symposium on Paediatric Neuro-Oncology (ISPNO). 2016, Liverpool, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Hill RM, Kuijper S, Lindsey J, Schwalbe EC, Barker K, Boult J, Williamson D, Ahmad Z, Hallsworth A, Ryan S, Poon E, Robinson S, Ruddle R, Raynaud F, Howell L, Kwok C, Joshi A, Nicholson S, Crosier S, Wharton S, Jacques T, Robson K, Michalski A, Hargrave D, Pizer B, Bailey S, Swartling FJ, Petrie K, Weiss WA, Chesler L, Clifford S. MYC and TP53 defects interact at medulloblastoma relapse to define rapidly progressive disease and can be targeted therapeutically. In: AACR Annual Meeting. 2014, San Diego, CA, USA: American Association for Cancer Research.
  • Hill R, Kuijper S, Lindsey J, Schwalbe E, Barker K, Boult J, Williamson D, Ahmad Z, Hallsworth A, Ryan S, Poon E, Robinson S, Ruddle R, Raynaud F, Howell L, Kwok C, Joshi A, Nicholson SL, Crosier S, Wharton S, Robson K, Michalski A, Hargrave D, Jacques T, Pizer B, Bailey S, Swartling F, Petrie K, Weiss W, Chesler L, Clifford S. MYC and TP53 defects emerge and interact at medulloblastoma relapse, define rapidly progressive disease and can be targeted therapeutically. In: 16th International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology. 2014, Singapore: Oxford University Press.

• Letters

  • Carruthers V, Hill RM, Coulter IC, Cowie CJA, Halliday G, Bailey S. Perioperative corticosteroid use in paediatric neuro-oncology. Child's Nervous System 2021, 37, 3669-3671.
  • Schwalbe EC, Hayden JT, Rogers HA, Miller S, Lindsey JC, Hill RM, Nicholson SL, Kilday JP, Adamowicz-Brice M, Storer L, Jacques TS, Robson K, Lowe J, Williamson D, Grundy RG, Bailey S, Clifford SC. Histologically defined central nervous system primitive neuro-ectodermal tumours (CNS-PNETs) display heterogeneous DNA methylation profiles and show relationships to other paediatric brain tumour types. Acta Neuropathologica 2013, 126(6), 943-946.
  • Lindsey JC, Hill RM, Megahed H, Lusher ME, Schwalbe EC, Cole M, Hogg TL, Gilbertson RJ, Ellison DW, Bailey S, Clifford SC. TP53 Mutations in Favorable-Risk Wnt/Wingless-Subtype Medulloblastomas. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2011, 29(12), E344-E346.

• Review

  • Hill RM, Plasschaert SLA, Timmermann B, Dufour C, Aquilina K, Avula S, Donovan L, Lequin M, Pietsch T, Thomale U, Tippelt S, Wesseling P, Rutkowski S, Clifford SC, Pfister SM, Bailey S, Fleischhack G. Relapsed medulloblastoma in pre-irradiated patients: Current practice for diagnostics and treatment. Cancers 2022, 14(1), 126.