Dr Ellen Copson BSc, MB BS, FRCP, PhD
Associate Professor of Medical Oncology

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Dr Ellen Copson is Cancer Research UK Associate Professor in Medical Oncology within Medicine at the University of Southampton.
Dr Copson is an Associate Professor in Medical Oncology in the Cancer Sciences Division at the University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine. She graduated in medicine with honours from the University of London in 1996 having also gained a first class Bachelor of Science degree in immunology. She went on to train in Medical Oncology firstly at St. George’s Hospital, London and then Southampton General Hospital, completing her specialist training in 2008. Between 2004 and 2007, Dr Copson undertook a PhD investigating DNA variants of unknown significance in the BRCA1 gene as a Cancer Research UK Clinical Fellow under the supervision of Professor Diana Eccles. This led to a particular interest in inherited breast cancer. In 2009 Dr Copson took up a position as a full-time NHS medical oncology consultant specializing in the medical treatment of breast cancer at Salisbury Foundation NHS Trust and Southampton University Hospital NHS Trust. She returned to academic medicine in 2012, accepting a position as a senior lecturer in medical oncology at Southampton University.
Dr Copson now combines her clinical breast cancer practice with clinical research. She is particularly interested in host factors which influence the response to systemic treatments for early breast cancer. She is a key member of the team currently analyzing data from a large national cohort study (the Prospective study of Outcomes in Sporadic versus Hereditary breast cancer, POSH study, CI Professor D. Eccles) and is currently working with the Biomedical Research Centre-Nutrition team on a programme of cohort studies which aim to investigate the impact of body composition and nutrition on the biology of early breast cancer and outcome of treatment early breast cancer. She also acts as clinical advisor for a number of pre-clinical studies investigating the biology of breast cancer, and for several early breast cancer survivorship studies. Dr Copson is principle investigator for a number of clinical trials in early and advanced breast cancer and a member of the NCRI Breast Cancer Clinical Studies Group from 2013-2019. She is particularly keen to promote research amongst trainees and in 2018 set up the National Breast Cancer Trainees Research Collaborative Group.
Dr Copson also has a particular interest in precision oncology in general. She chairs the national Oncogenetics Training Working Party and is the RCP “Genetics Champion” for medical oncology. In 2015, Dr Copson was appointed to the role of Cancer Lead for the Wessex Genomic Medicine Centre. She led recruitment of local cancer patients into the national 100,000 genomes project and co-chairs weekly regional molecular tumour board meetings.
Qualifications
BSc (First Class Hons) 1993 University of London
MB BS (Hons) 1996 University of London
MRCP (1999) Royal College of Physicians (London)
CCT in Medical Oncology (2009) PMETB
PhD (2008) University of Southampton
FRCP (2015) Royal College of Physicians (London)
Appointments held
Feb 2015 to present:
Cancer Research UK Associate Professor University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Feb 2012 to 2015:
Cancer Research UK Senior Lecturer University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Jun 2009-Feb 2012
Consultant in Medical Oncology, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Jan 2004-July 2007
Cancer research UK Clinical Fellow, University of Southampton
Feb 2001 – June 2009
Specialist Registrar in Medical Oncology, Southampton General Hospital