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Alex Gentry-Maharaj, Principal Research Fellow

Alex joined the Gynaecological Cancer Research Centre in 2003, initially based at Barts and since 2004 at UCL (Institute for Women’s Health). She has been an integral part and a Project Lead for one of the largest individually randomised controlled trials in the world, the United Kingdom Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS). Alex has contributed to all the publications resulting from the trial, both from the core work and secondary studies.

In 2005, with Prof Usha Menon, Alex set up and co-led the United Kingdom Ovarian cancer Population Study (UKOPS), one of the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium studies contributing to the first ever Genome Wide Association Study for ovarian cancer.

In 2018, the UKCTOCS team moved to the MRC CTU at UCL where Alex continued her active roles. In 2021, she also took on Project Co-lead roles for the ICON8B and Add-Aspirin trials.

Alex is passionate about education and has since 2016 contributed to the design of a number of modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. She co-leads five modules across the Institute of Clinical Trials & Methodology and Institute for Women’s Health. Since 2022, Alex is the MSc Clinical Trials Programme Director.

Since 2022, Alex had taken on role of a CRUK International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection (ACED) Co-Director of Research Domain Trials and International HundredK+ Cohorts Consortium (IHCC) Steering Committee role.

Alex completed her PhD in molecular biology of cancer at King’s College London in 2002 following an MSc Medical Immunology at St. George’s Hospital Medical School.


Selected publications

Menon U, Gentry-Maharaj A, Burnell M, Singh N, Ryan A, Karpinskyj C, Carlino G, Taylor J, Massingham SK, Raikou M, Kalsi JK, Woolas R, Manchanda R, Arora R, Casey L, Dawnay A, Dobbs S, Leeson S, Mould T, Seif MW, Sharma A, Williamson K, Liu Y, Fallowfield L, McGuire AJ, Campbell S, Skates SJ, Jacobs IJ, Parmar M. Ovarian cancer population screening and mortality after long-term follow-up in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2021 Jun 5;397(10290):2182-2193. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00731-5. Epub 2021 May 12. PMID: 33991479; PMCID: PMC8192829.

Taylor JA, Burnell M, Ryan A, Karpinskyj C, Kalsi JK, Taylor H, Apostolidou S, Sharma A, Manchanda R, Woolas R, Campbell S, Parmar M, Singh N, Jacobs IJ, Menon U, Gentry-Maharaj A. Association of hysterectomy and invasive epithelial ovarian and tubal cancer: a cohort study within UKCTOCS. BJOG. 2022 Jan;129(1):110-118. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.16943. Epub 2021 Oct 17. PMID: 34555263.

Phelan CM, Kuchenbaecker KB, Tyrer JP, Kar SP, Lawrenson K, Winham SJ, Dennis J, Pirie A, Riggan MJ, Chornokur G, Earp MA, Lyra PC Jr, Lee JM, Coetzee S, Beesley J, McGuffog L, Soucy P, Dicks E, Lee A, Barrowdale D, Lecarpentier J, Leslie G, Aalfs CM, Aben KKH, Adams M, Adlard J, Andrulis IL, Anton-Culver H, Antonenkova N; AOCS study group; Aravantinos G, Arnold N, Arun BK, Arver B, Azzollini J, Balmaña J, Banerjee SN, Barjhoux L, Barkardottir RB, Bean Y, Beckmann MW, Beeghly-Fadiel A, Benitez J, Bermisheva M, Bernardini MQ, Birrer MJ, Bjorge L, Black A, Blankstein K, Blok MJ, Bodelon C, Bogdanova N, Bojesen A, Bonanni B, Borg Å, Bradbury AR, Brenton JD, Brewer C, Brinton L, Broberg P, Brooks-Wilson A, Bruinsma F, Brunet J, Buecher B, Butzow R, Buys SS, Caldes T, Caligo MA, Campbell I, Cannioto R, Carney ME, Cescon T, Chan SB, Chang-Claude J, Chanock S, Chen XQ, Chiew YE, Chiquette J, Chung WK, Claes KBM, Conner T, Cook LS, Cook J, Cramer DW, Cunningham JM, D'Aloisio AA, Daly MB, Damiola F, Damirovna SD, Dansonka-Mieszkowska A, Dao F, Davidson R, DeFazio A, Delnatte C, Doheny KF, Diez O, Ding YC, Doherty JA, Domchek SM, Dorfling CM, Dörk T, Dossus L, Duran M, Dürst M, Dworniczak B, Eccles D, Edwards T, Eeles R, Eilber U, Ejlertsen B, Ekici AB, Ellis S, Elvira M; EMBRACE Study; Eng KH, Engel C, Evans DG, Fasching PA, Ferguson S, Ferrer SF, Flanagan JM, Fogarty ZC, Fortner RT, Fostira F, Foulkes WD, Fountzilas G, Fridley BL, Friebel TM, Friedman E, Frost D, Ganz PA, Garber J, García MJ, Garcia-Barberan V, Gehrig A; GEMO Study Collaborators; Gentry-Maharaj A, et al. Identification of 12 new susceptibility loci for different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer. Nat Genet. 2017 May;49(5):680-691. doi: 10.1038/ng.3826. Epub 2017 Mar 27. PMID: 28346442; PMCID: PMC5612337.

Jacobs IJ, Menon U, Ryan A, Gentry-Maharaj A, Burnell M, Kalsi JK, Amso NN, Apostolidou S, Benjamin E, Cruickshank D, Crump DN, Davies SK, Dawnay A, Dobbs S, Fletcher G, Ford J, Godfrey K, Gunu R, Habib M, Hallett R, Herod J, Jenkins H, Karpinskyj C, Leeson S, Lewis SJ, Liston WR, Lopes A, Mould T, Murdoch J, Oram D, Rabideau DJ, Reynolds K, Scott I, Seif MW, Sharma A, Singh N, Taylor J, Warburton F, Widschwendter M, Williamson K, Woolas R, Fallowfield L, McGuire AJ, Campbell S, Parmar M, Skates SJ. Ovarian cancer screening and mortality in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2016 Mar 5;387(10022):945-956. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01224-6. Epub 2015 Dec 17. Erratum in: Lancet. 2016 Mar 5;387(10022):944. Erratum in: Lancet. 2016 Mar 5;387(10022):944. PMID: 26707054; PMCID: PMC4779792.

Jacobs I, Gentry-Maharaj A, Burnell M, Manchanda R, Singh N, Sharma A, Ryan A, Seif MW, Amso NN, Turner G, Brunell C, Fletcher G, Rangar R, Ford K, Godfrey K, Lopes A, Oram D, Herod J, Williamson K, Scott I, Jenkins H, Mould T, Woolas R, Murdoch J, Dobbs S, Leeson S, Cruickshank D, Skates SJ, Fallowfield L, Parmar M, Campbell S, Menon U. Sensitivity of transvaginal ultrasound screening for endometrial cancer in postmenopausal women: a case-control study within the UKCTOCS cohort. Lancet Oncol. 2011 Jan;12(1):38-48. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70268-0. Epub 2010 Dec 10. PMID: 21147030.





Research Interests

  • Cancer
  • Screening
  • Early detection
  • Repurposed drugs
  • Chemotherapy and novel agents


Research Areas



UCL Profiles