Three NCA colleagues have been appointed as professors at The University of Manchester in recognition of their achievements in education and research.
Professor Helen Young
Consultant dermatologist Helen Young is now Clinical Professor of Dermatology. Helen trained in dermatology in Manchester and at Harvard Medical School. Her research is focused on cutaneous and systemic responses, how lifestyle influences psoriasis pathogenesis, circadian control of skin inflammation and mechanisms of immunotherapy-induced skin toxicity.
She led the UK Psoriasis Priority Setting Partnership, a James Lind Alliance facilitated collaboration between healthcare professionals and those with lived-experience of psoriasis to identify the research priorities for psoriasis.
She is the Lead for CESR/Portfolio Pathway Training for Dermatology in the UK and is a Councilor for the International Psoriasis Council.
Professor Sorrel Burden
Clinical academic dietitian Sorrel Burden has been appointed Professor of Dietetics in the division of nursing, midwifery and social work.
She leads nutritional research for the intestinal failure unit at Salford Royal and her current research focuses on parenteral nutrition in intestinal failure, malnutrition in older adults, and food insecurity.
Her PhD looked at pre-operative oral nutritional support in patients with colorectal cancer and she then secured a series of prestigious fellowships from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Macmillan Cancer Support.
Her work has been supported by funding from industry partners, charitable organisations, and the Medical Research Council.
Prof Burden has supervised and mentored numerous dietitians undertaking master’s and doctoral studies both in the UK and internationally and is dedicated to building research capacity within the profession and promoting high-quality, evidence-based practice.
She is also the course lead for critical appraisal and evidence synthesis on the MRes programme at The University of Manchester.
Professor Amaya Viros
Clinician scientist Amaya Viros is promoted to a clinical chair at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute.
She leads the skin cancer and ageing group at CRUKMI and undertakes clinical practice in dermatology and high-risk skin cancer at Salford Royal. Her research focuses on the mechanisms that drive metastasis in skin cancer patients and novel therapeutic strategies to treat or prevent metastatic spread.
After qualifying in medicine in Spain, Prof Viros became a Fulbright Scholar in dermatology and pathology at the University of California and later joined the Institute of Cancer Research where she completed work to obtain a PhD in melanoma.
In 2016, she was awarded a Wellcome Intermediate Clinician Scientist Fellowship to develop her research programme and in 2023, she was awarded a Cancer Research UK Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellowship. She also leads an NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Manchester project to develop novel biomarkers that predict skin cancer outcomes.