Richard Owen

Research interests

As part of my DPhil I sequenced individual cells from a pre-cancerous condition of the oesophagus called Barrett’s oesophagus and investigated how these cells behave differently to normal upper gastrointestinal cells. As part of a team, I have been able to use the techniques we learned, alongside new single cell sequencing technology, to extend the scope of this project as part of a clinical trial investigating the use of emerging immunochemotherapies in oesophageal cancer treatment. I hope to use these results to help understand why these exciting new treatments work well in some people with oesophageal cancer, and not well in others.

Background

I qualified as a doctor in Liverpool and completed my early surgical training in the Northwest of England before moving to Oxford to undertake a DPhil in upper gastrointestinal single cell RNA-seq, supervised by Xin Lu and Mark Middleton. Since finishing my DPhil, I have completed training as an oesophago-gastric cancer surgeon in Oxford, and continue to participate in oesophago-gastric research between Oxford University Hospitals and the Ludwig Institute.

other activities

I have previously been involved in public engagement through supporting science events in local schools, and hope to continue with this.