Prof Ingunn Holen

Ingunn Holen is Professor of Bone Oncology and team leader in the Department of Oncology and Metabolism, University of Sheffield, UK and Science Lead of the Sheffield Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre.  Receiving her PhD at the University of Oslo, Norway before moving to Sheffield in 1995, she has more than 20 years experience in working in advanced breast cancer and therapeutics, in particular in the context of translational studies in metastatic bone disease. She has published 120+ scientific papers with more than 5,500 citations. She has chaired the Scientific Advisory Board and served as a member of the Science Strategy Committee of Breast Cancer Now, is a member of the NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship panel as well as several international grant review panels, editorial boards and conference organising committees. She has previously been a member of the BACR executive and is passionate about supporting the next generation of cancer researchers through extensive mentorship activities.

Research in the Holen team is focussed on elucidating the mechanisms underlying tumour cell spread to the skeleton, in particular how disseminated tumour cells interact with different components of the bone microenvironment to establish metastatic foci. With collaborators, she has established a range of in vitro and complex in vivo models for studies of tumour growth in bone and works closely with clinical colleagues on translational research projects and clinical trials. Other areas of interest include determining the cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating dormancy in breast cancer as well as establishing the mechanical properties of the bone metastatic niche.