Keaton Jones

• Wellcome Trust Early Career Fellow
• Consultant Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgeon

My research aims to identify and test novel therapies for people suffering from pancreatic cancer. My work in the laboratory utilises high fidelity models of pancreatic cancer, allowing us to examine how tumours respond to different treatments. By identifying mechanisms of resistance, we can select therapeutic targets that render pancreatic cancer susceptible to conventional (radiotherapy) or novel (immune checkpoint inhibitors) treatments.

Recently, we discovered that a combination of short course radiotherapy (SBRT) combined with a drug that targets the immune system is effective at slowing tumour growth in a preclinical model of pancreas cancer. We continue to work with our collaborators to translate findings like these into clinical trials.

I also work with colleagues across Oxford on High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). We are running a Phase I trial to determine the safety and feasibility of HIFU for treating locally advanced pancreatic cancer. We will draw on our experience from the laboratory to design future clinical trials that incorporate HIFU with immunotherapeutic strategies.

BIOGRAPHY

I graduated with Honours in Medicine at Nottingham University in 2011. My research career began with an Academic Foundation position supervised by Professor Jon Lund at the University of Nottingham. I was subsequently appointed as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at the University of Oxford where I completed my basic surgical training. In 2015 I undertook a DPhil (PhD) in Oncology under the supervision of Professor Ruth Muschel at the CRUK/MRC Department of Oncology, University of Oxford. My thesis explored the tumour immune response to radiotherapy in preclinical models of colorectal and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In 2020,  I took up a position as a NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, where I investigated the role of PI3K-gamma in pancreatic cancer macrophages. In 2025, I was awarded a Wellcome Trust Early Career Award to investigate the role of macrophage metabolism plays in determining therapeutic responses in pancreatic cancer. 

Anita Fallah, postdoctoral researcher

Shannon Russell, DPhil student