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Department of Oncology

 

Biography

Harveer graduated with a BA(Hons) in Natural Sciences (2008) and an MB BChir (2011) from the University of Cambridge, before completing his basic surgical training at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He developed his research interest in the role of DNA repair in cancer as a Fulbright Scholar at the Dana- Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, USA), and as a Wellcome Trust Doctoral fellow at the Gurdon Institute (Cambridge, UK). He is currently a CRUK Academic Clinical Lecturer in early cancer detection at the University of Cambridge, and Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator (2021).

Research

We are a surgical translational research group, driven by the critical need to improve the outcomes of patients with lethal prostate cancer. We use cellular and patient-derived models as well as surgical and clinical trial specimens, to study the behaviour of high risk prostate cancers, and their response to therapies. We are particularly interested in therapies which target the DNA damage response pathway, gene mutations in which are well associated with earlier onset and more aggressive disease, and predicting clinical response.

We work across leading-edge technologies, utilising multi-omic sequencing approaches on clinical trial specimens, functional genomic screening using CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing, and leveraging primary organoids from early high risk cancer cohorts to gain our insights.  We have ongoing collaborations with industry and pharmaceutical partners, as well as groups across the Alliance for Cancer Early Detection.

Key areas of interest:

  • CRUK Cambridge Centre research programme(s): Early Detection, Urological Malignancies
  • Tumour type/site: Prostate, Urological malignancies
  • Methods & technologies: Patient-derived organoids; CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing; DNA damage response signalling; single-cell RNA sequencing; clinical trial specimen evaluation

Publications

Key publications: 
  1. Shieldin complex promotes DNA end-joining and counters homologous recombination in BRCA1-null cells. Dev, H., Chiang, T. W., Lescale, C., de Krijger, I., Martin, A. G., Pilger, D., Coates, J., Sczaniecka-Clift, M., Wei, W., Ostermaier, M., Herzog, M., Lam, J., Shea, A., Demir, M., Wu, Q., Yang, F., Fu, B., Lai, Z., Balmus, G., Belotserkovskaya, R., … Jackson, S. P. (2018). Nature cell biology. 20(8), 954–965. doi:10.1038/s41556-018-0140-1

 

  1. Synthetic lethality between androgen receptor signalling and the PARP pathway in prostate cancer. Asim, M., Tarish, F., Zecchini, H. I., Sanjiv, K., Gelali, E., Massie, C. E., Baridi, A., Warren, A. Y., Zhao, W., Ogris, C., McDuffus, L. A., Mascalchi, P., Shaw, G., Dev, H., Wadhwa, K., Wijnhoven, P., Forment, J. V., Lyons, S. R., Lynch, A. G., O'Neill, C., … Helleday, T. (2017). Nature communications, 8(1), 374. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00393-y

 

  1. Investigating upper urinary tract urothelial carcinomas: a single-centre 10-year experience. Dev, H. S., Poo, S., Armitage, J., Wiseman, O., Shah, N., & Al-Hayek, S. (2017). World journal of urology, 35(1), 131–138. doi:10.1007/s00345-016-1820-8

 

  1. Surgical margin length and location affect recurrence rates after robotic prostatectomy. Dev, H. S., Wiklund, P., Patel, V., Parashar, D., Palmer, K., Nyberg, T., Skarecky, D., Neal, D. E., Ahlering, T., & Sooriakumaran, P. (2015). Urologic oncology, 33(3). doi:10.1016/j.urolonc.2014.11.005

 

  1. Biobanking after robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy: a quality assessment of providing prostate tissue for RNA studies. Dev, H., Rickman, D., Sooriakumaran, P., Srivastava, A., Grover, S., Leung, R., Kim, R., Kitabayashi, N., Esqueva, R., Park, K., Padilla, J., Rubin, M., & Tewari, A. (2011). Journal of translational medicine, 9, 121. doi: 10.1186/1479-5876-9-121.

 

Teaching and Supervisions

Research supervision: 
  • Clinical Research Training Fellows
  • PhD Students
  • Masters Students
  • Visiting Students

Other Professional Activities

Advisory Board Positions:

  • Infopool Clinical Advisory Board, Prostate Cancer Research

Committees & Working Groups:

  • Alliance for Cancer Early Detection Prostate Working Group
  • CRUK Cambridge Urological Malignancies Steering Committee
  • Pan Prostate Cancer Group

Editorships:

  • Editor, various medicine series, Oxford University Press

Other:

  • Lead for Academic Urology Group for Trainees
  • Recently served for five years as a magistrate for the Central London Bench
CRUK Academic Clinical Lecturer in Urology
CRUK Cambridge Centre Early Detection Programme
Portrait photo of Harveer Dev

Contact Details

Early Cancer Institute
University of Cambridge
Department of Oncology
Box 197 Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 0XZ
UK
+44 (0)1223 766415
Takes PhD students
Available for consultancy