- Cancer Mechanisms and Biomarkers
About me
Dr Maria Neofytou obtained her PhD in Medical Genetics from the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 2016. She completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Adult Learning and Professional Development, and she became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK in 2024; just after one year, she joined as a Lecturer at the University of Westminster.
Maria’s academic career spans the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and KU Leuven in Belgium, with expertise in liquid biopsy and next-generation sequencing technologies. Following her PhD she moved to Belgium for two years of postdoctoral research at KU Leuven, where she focused on developing novel methods for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. After that, she moved to Oxford University at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine for a year before joining the lab of Prof Nitzan Rosenfeld at Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Institute at Cambridge University. Her research focused on the early molecular cancer diagnosis using nucleic acids in plasma and urine.
At the University of Westminster, Dr Neofytou is the Co-Course Leader for Biomedical Science and an active member of the Cancer Mechanism and Biomarker Research Group in the School of Life Sciences. Her main research interest is circulating biomarkers, with a specific focus on early cancer detection, but she also continues her work in non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. Currently, she is a collaborator on a Cancer Research UK-funded grant (BrOvED) for developing novel methods for early detection of breast and ovarian cancer with scientists from Cambridge University.
Dr Neofytou has published her work in peer-reviewed journals such as Annals of Oncology, Genetics in Medicine, Clinical Chemistry, and Genome Research. She has also presented her work on liquid biopsy at national and international conferences, including the International Society of Prenatal Diagnosis (ISPD) and the Hellenic Society of Liquid Biopsy.
Dr Neofytou is a member of the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG), the European Association of Cancer Research (EACR) and the British Society for Genetic Medicine (BSGM).
Teaching
Dr. Neofytou is a Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences, engaging with both undergraduate and postgraduate students in her diverse teaching portfolio. She leads the core module "Medical Genetics and Genomics," which is a cohort of 400 students, and contributes to various other modules, including Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Functional Anatomy, and Human Physiology. In addition, she holds the position of Co-module Leader for Cancer Biology.
With a commitment to inclusive, research‑informed biomedical education Dr. Neofytou has successfully secured funding for her research laboratory, providing students with the opportunity to undertake their undergraduate and master's research projects under her mentorship. Recently, she proudly welcomed her first PhD students into the lab, marking an exciting new chapter in her academic journey. Moreover, she is dedicated to providing career guidance to students pursuing research, fostering their growth and success in the field.
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.