Derek Mann
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damann1.bsky.social
Derek Mann
@damann1.bsky.social
Scientist, mentor, husband, father, grandfather, rugby fan, Man Utd supporter, cook, grateful cancer survivor researching cancer immunology.
As Newcastle University’s Professor of Hepatology, I am honoured and extremely proud to be a contributor to its world top 10 ranking in Gastroenterology and Hepatology 👊
July 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Derek Mann
The NU Conference was a big success with a superb plenary from Ram DasGupta (CRUK Scotland). Prizes for talks - J Dishington (1st) and H Stewart; flash talks - E Woodward (1st), L Taylor (2nd); posters - E Hackney (1st), K Papa (2nd). Congrats and to all presenters for giving us a memorable day!
June 16, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Spectacular 3 days in Singapore. Everyone should visit
April 22, 2025 at 2:15 PM
April 8, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Very excited to be just a weekend away from this UK conference on neutrophil biology that we are hosting at Newcastle. It includes international keynotes but most important the majority of speakers are early career researchers. #immunology #inflammation #neutrophils #humandisease
March 27, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Our latest paper, published today in FEBS Letters is a chemical biology study on development of drugs selectively targeting HDAC6 with demonstration of efficacy in a human model of liver fibrosis. febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
FEBS Press
Chronic liver injury can lead to severe conditions such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Unfortunately, there are no effective treatments to halt or reverse liver fibrosis, which makes new therapeutic ....
febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 14, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Wow, phenomenal work. 75% of pancreatic cancer patients alive 3 years after receiving a personalised mRNA vaccine. Durable CD8+ T cell responses underlying the therapeutic benefit. Congrats to the authors 👊👏

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
RNA neoantigen vaccines prime long-lived CD8+ T cells in pancreatic cancer - Nature
In a phase 1 trial, patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who were treated with surgery and bespoke neoantigen mRNA vaccines combined with anti-PD-L1 and chemotherapy exhibited marked lo...
www.nature.com
February 27, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Dr Amy Collins from our group and @nucancer.bsky.social selected for early career researcher oral presentation of her poster on use of a complex human tissue culture model of liver cancer for drug development.
February 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Next up, our talented PhD student Keara, who was super busy at her poster on development of a tumour slice screening platform for discovery of liver cancer drug targets.
February 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Dr Amy Collins is busy at her poster on modelling hepatocellular carcinoma at the 2025 EASL Liver Cancer Summit in Paris. Funding for her work from Cancer Research U.K.
February 20, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Derek Mann
An important new study on the genetics of liver cancer published today in Nature led by Prof Tom Bird of Edinburgh University with contributions from @damann1.bsky.social, @jleslie1.bsky.social and others of @nucancer.bsky.social.
Human-correlated genetic models identify precision therapy for liver cancer - Nature
As proof of principle, an analysis using a suite of human-aligned immunocompetent mouse models of hepatocellular carcinoma identifies a promising therapeutic candidate, cladribine, which acts in ...
www.nature.com
February 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Well done Keara, very proud of you!
Our talented PhD student Keara wins a regional prize for her work on developing a 96-well scale model of liver cancer tumour microenvironment. Congratulations Keara!
February 11, 2025 at 11:38 PM
The Cure. Somber, Sad, Glorious (and oh that bass!) 😊
THE CURE It Can Never Be The Same @ Meltdown Festival, London 6/24/18
YouTube video by citizenborland
youtu.be
February 4, 2025 at 10:37 PM
On World Cancer Day we welcome Dr Abdullah Malik to our liver cancer team. Abdullah is a talented surgeon who has won a prestigious Medical Research Council clinician scientist training fellowship to research the basis of recurrence of cancer following surgical removal of a patient’s tumour.
February 4, 2025 at 6:36 PM
February 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Derek Mann
Today is World Cancer Day. At the NU Centre for Cancer we are dedicated to working towards more effective and gentler treatments for cancer patients.
February 4, 2025 at 9:03 AM
In addition to my trials and tribulations with bowel cancer I also suffer from pre-cancerous lesions on the skin around my eyes. So now have a new pair of wraparound prescription shades to offer a better degree of protection. Not sure if I look more like The Terminator or a character from The Matrix
January 10, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Derek Mann
We are very proud that our very own Professor Christine Harrison has been deservedly recognised with an OBE for her work on improving the scientific knowledge and care of childhood leukaemia. bloodcancer.org.uk/news/blood-c...
Blood Cancer UK | Blood cancer researcher recognised in King’s New Years Honours
The King’s New Years Honours list has been announced with Blood Cancer UK's trustee awarded an OBE for services to children.
bloodcancer.org.uk
January 2, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Our brain is not a computer

“Why does the brain need billions of neurons to process 10bits/sec? Why can we only think about one thing at a time?”

Fascinating paper makes me wonder if aspects of neurodivergence (e.g. ADHD) are the brain trying to be a little faster?

arxiv.org/abs/2408.10234
The Unbearable Slowness of Being: Why do we live at 10 bits/s?
This article is about the neural conundrum behind the slowness of human behavior. The information throughput of a human being is about 10 bits/s. In comparison, our sensory systems gather data at ~10^...
arxiv.org
December 18, 2024 at 5:53 AM
Watching my boy score his 2nd try for Siena College in their winning final against Iowa certainly took my mind of my post-op pain! Get in lad!
December 14, 2024 at 8:14 PM
What is hopefully the final part of my treatment for bowel cancer done. Currently in the fantastic Newcastle NHS Trust Freeman Hospital recovering from surgery to reverse my ileostomy. Operation done 6 months after my first one that removed the tumour. Onwards and Upwards 😊
December 11, 2024 at 2:18 PM
If you enjoy a film with a strong narrative and great acting this one is highly recommended!
December 6, 2024 at 11:22 PM
Honoured to be speaking at this event in summer 2025
December 5, 2024 at 1:33 PM
My 1st gig since my illness, @fontainesdc.bsky.social at Glasgow you were outstanding!
December 4, 2024 at 11:58 PM
Winter arrives
November 23, 2024 at 10:25 AM