Senior Lecturer at University of Manchester

Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Gerben Borst obtained his MD at the University of Antwerp Medical School in Belgium and his PhD at the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands. As part of his PhD, he was a resident at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) from 2003 – 2011 in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Gerben’s speciality training has taken him to Hokkaido University in Japan under the supervision of Professor Shirato (2007, UICC supported), the Institute of Cancer Research in London, under the supervision of Professor Kevin Harrington (2011, EACR and EMBO supported) and to Toronto working with Professor Rob Bristow at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (2015, KWF fellow). As a Consultant Radiation Oncologist, his clinical work at the NKI work included treating patients with primary brain tumours and patients with brain and spinal cord metastasis and he also did a the Ladislau and Melita Steiner Radiosurgery Fellowship at UCSF. He started to develop his own research group as an Assistant Professor at NKI investigating novel insights in the treatment response to develop innovative treatment strategies.

Gerben left the NKI in July 2020 and moved to the University of Manchester (UoM) as a Senior Lecturer and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust as an Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist. Gerben has a passion for developing the next generation of scientists and since 2018; he has supported PhD students as a primary supervisor at both NKI and UoM. His other passions include supporting colleagues with their research; he is a current member of the ‘Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology’ Editorial Journal Board, a board member at the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre, a reviewer of ESTRO abstracts and of multiple peer-reviewed journals (e.g. R&O, IJROBP and ctRO), in addition to teaching on the ESO-ESMO-ESTRO multidisciplinary course since 2016. At UoM and the Christie Hospital, Gerben continues his research into implementing better and innovative treatment strategies for patients with brain tumours.

Education

2003-2009                              PhD, Faculty of Medicine University of Amsterdam, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (co)supervisors: Prof. Harry Bartelink, Dr. Joos Lebesque, Prof. Jan-Jakob Sonke

1996-2003                              MD, Medical school, University Antwerp (UIA), Belgium

2000-2001                              Erasmus Exchange Program; Medical School Charité of University Medicine Berlin, Germany

Additional Qualifications

2012-2015                              Postdoctoral Fellowship, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Supervisor: Prof. Robert Bristow)

2010-2011                              Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institute of Cancer Research, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, United Kingdom (Supervisor: Prof. Kevin Harrington)

2003-2011                              Resident, Radiation Oncology, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (Supervisors: Prof. Harry Bartelink, Prof. Marcel Verheij)

2007                                       Research Fellowship, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan (Supervisor: Prof. H. Shirato)

- ESTRO

- ERRS

- NVRO

- AACR

- SNO

- EANO

Research

PhD Students

2018-2020                              Beatriz Gomez Solsona, New era of radiosensitization by modulating radiosensitizing agents during RT

2017-present                           Paul Slangen, Radiosensitization of glioma tumors through induction of mitotic enrichment

2016-present                           Eline Hessen, Changes of brain metastasis and glioblastoma tumors before and during radiotherapy

2020-present                           Awa Gassama, Immunotherapy and Radiotherapy in GBM

2020-present                           Mueez Waqar, Preoperative RT in GBM

Administrative Roles and Teaching Positions

2018-2020                              ESTRO scientific council

2018-present                           Reviewer grant applications ZonNW (The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development)

2017-present                           Editorial Board Journal “Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology”

2016-present                           Teacher at the ESO-ESMO-ESTRO multidisciplinary course          

2016-2020                              ODS (Education Dedicated Specialist) at NKI, responsible for CNS internship for radiation oncology residents

2005-present                           Reviewer multiple peer reviewed journals (e.g. R&O, IJROBP, ctRO)

2016-present                           Reviewer ESTRO conference for topics “CNS” and “other”

2016-2019                              yESTRO (youngESTRO) committee member

Travel Awards

2015                                        ICCR travel award

2011                                        ECCO-AACR, EORTC-ESMO Workshop on Methods in Clinical Cancer Research, Flims (2011, by Dutch Cancer Society, KWF)

2011                                        ERRS young scientist award

2009                                        ELCC travel awards

Fellowship Awards

2017                                        The Ladislau and Melita Steiner Radiosurgery Fellowship (3 months Gamma-Knife Fellowship), University of California San Francisco (Prof. Micheal McDermott and Prof. Penny Sneed)

2012                                        2-year KWF (Dutch Cancer Soceity) fellowship (laboratory of Prof. Robert Bristow, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada)

2010                                        ICRETT Mike Price Fellowship Award (laboratory of Prof. Kevin Harrington, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK)

2010                                         EMBO Molecular Medicine fellowship (laboratory of Prof. Kevin Harrington, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK)

2007                                         International cancer technology transfer fellowship (department of Radiotherapy, Hokkaido, Sapporo, Prof. H. Shirato)