Dr Douglas Brand PhD, PGdip, MRes ,MA ,MBBC ,BA

I am a Consultant Clinical Oncologist specialising in gastrointestinal cancers. I focus on non-surgical treatments—radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy—for cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, liver, bile duct system, pancreas, colon, rectum, and anal canal. I qualified in medicine with distinction from Cambridge University Medical School. My clinical and research training in Clinical Oncology took place at several leading UK cancer centres, including The Christie Hospital in Manchester, The Royal Marsden Hospital, and University College Hospital.

I have a particular interest in combined modality treatments, such as total neoadjuvant therapy (chemotherapy and radiotherapy) for rectal cancer, and I serve as the UCLH radiotherapy lead for the ARTEMIS study exploring this approach. I also have expertise in stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT or SABR), a high-dose, precision-targeted form of radiotherapy used in the treatment of pancreatic and liver cancers, as well as selected metastatic disease. In addition, I specialise in proton beam therapy, which can more effectively spare normal tissue and is increasingly being used for oesophageal and liver cancers.

On the research side, I completed a Master’s degree at The Christie Hospital focusing on novel radiotherapy delivery techniques, followed by a PhD at the Institute of Cancer Research, where I investigated the use of machine learning to predict cancer treatment outcomes. I then completed my training as a Clinical Lecturer at University College London, where I continued this work, focusing on AI prediction of cancer outcomes. I maintain active research interests in proton beam therapy and machine learning in oncology, and I am the UCLH Principal Investigator for the PROTIEUS study, which explores the use of proton beam therapy in oesophageal cancer.