Dr Lewis Quayle BSc (Hons), MRes, PhD, FHEA

Senior Lecturer in Data Science and Analytics

Summary

Lewis is a bioinformatician and data scientist with a strong interdisciplinary background, having transitioned from laboratory-based cancer cell biology to computational biology and healthcare data analytics during his postdoctoral work. He possesses extensive expertise across diverse data science and bioinformatics workflows, including high-performance computing pipeline development, microarray and next-generation sequencing (NGS) data processing, large-scale clinical data analysis, machine learning (both supervised and unsupervised), text mining, topic modelling and sentiment analysis, graph network analytics, and spatial data analysis.

Passionate about education, Lewis is dedicated to equipping the next generation of data scientists with analytical skills while remaining deeply research-active. He is a member of two working groups within the Genomics England 100,000 Genomes Project and collaborates on numerous clinical, fundamental, and digital healthcare research projects. His current work involves genomic and clinical data analysis and predictive modelling in the areas of bladder cancer, ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and gestational trophoblastic disease.

About

Lewis is a Senior Lecturer in Data Science and Analytics in the Department of Computing, appointed in May 2023, with a distinguished academic and research career spanning oncology, bioinformatics, and data science. He completed his PhD in October 2017 at the Department of Oncology & Metabolism, University of Sheffield Medical School, where his research focused on developing innovative models of mitotic quiescence in human breast cancer. His early postdoctoral work expanded on this by characterising cancer cell populations from these models through advanced techniques such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatic analytics.

In 2019, Lewis broadened his expertise with a three-month training placement in high-performance computing at the Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics in Sydney, Australia. Subsequently, he held a two-year position as a postdoctoral cancer bioinformatician, continuing his cutting-edge breast cancer research. In June 2022, he joined the Sheffield Bioinformatics Core Facility as a cancer bioinformatician, contributing to both pre-clinical and clinical projects involving large-scale NGS and clinical data analysis.

Lewis has been deeply engaged in education throughout his career, beginning during his MRes and continuing through his PhD and postdoctoral tenure. He has supervised numerous undergraduate, BMedSci, MSc and MRes, and PhD research projects and has lectured extensively on topics including NGS, bioinformatics, and computational research best practices. His past teaching contributions include the MSc Translational Oncology and MSc Molecular Medicine programmes at the University of Sheffield, and Lewis holds a three-year honorary post as Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics in the Department of Oncology & Metabolism at the University of Sheffield. His dedication to excellence in teaching and adherence to the Professional Standards Framework (2023) have earned him Fellowship of Advance HE (FHEA). Additionally, he is certified by The Carpentries to deliver foundational coding and data science skills through their Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Software Carpentry curriculums.

Teaching

School of Computing and Digital Technologies

College of Business, Technology and Engineering

Subject area
Digital Analytics and Technologies

Courses
MSc Big Data Analytics
MSc Healthcare Analytics and Artificial Intelligence

Modules
Learning Systems and Data Analysis for Healthcare
Ethics of Healthcare Information
Advanced Data Management Project

Research

Industry and Innovation Research Institute

Lewis is actively engaged in research across his areas of expertise, with projects spanning multiple human cancers. He is a member of two Genomics England 100,000 Genomes Project working groups, contributing to the creation of mutational maps for bladder and ovarian cancer cohorts. Additionally, he serves as a member of the bioinformatics team for the GUSTO Phase II clinical trial and as a co-investigator on projects focused on several critical areas of cancer research. These include developing a predictive test for chemotherapy response in gestational trophoblastic disease and continuing his postdoctoral work to identify molecular drivers and biomarkers of metastatic dormancy in breast cancer.

Beyond these major initiatives, Lewis contributes to various clinical and foundational research projects, exploring next-generation sequencing, high-throughput screening, public healthcare data analytics, and predictive modelling of prognostic risk factors across diverse settings. His work exemplifies a commitment to leveraging bioinformatics and data science to advance cancer research and improve patient outcomes.

Publications

Journal articles

Morita, M., Arshad, F., Quayle, L., George, C.N., Lefley, D.V., Kalajzic, I., ... Ottewell, P.D. (2024). Losartan alters osteoblast differentiation and increases bone mass through inhibition of TGFB signalling in vitro and in an OIM mouse model. Bone Reports. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bonr.2024.101795

Griffin, J., Down, J., Quayle, L., Heath, P.R., Gibb, E.A., Davicioni, E., ... Catto, J.W.F. (2024). Verification of molecular subtyping of bladder cancer in the GUSTO clinical trial. The Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research, 10 (2). http://doi.org/10.1002/2056-4538.12363

Catto, J.W.F., Mandrik, O., Quayle, L.A., Hussain, S.A., McGrath, J., Cresswell, J., ... Cumberbatch, M. (2023). Diagnosis, treatment and survival from bladder, upper urinary tract, and urethral cancers: real-world findings from NHS England between 2013 and 2019. BJU international, 131 (6), 734-744. http://doi.org/10.1111/bju.15970

Quayle, L.A., Spicer, A., Ottewell, P.D., & Holen, I. (2021). Transcriptomic Profiling Reveals Novel Candidate Genes and Signalling Programs in Breast Cancer Quiescence and Dormancy. Cancers, 13 (16). http://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13163922

Tulotta, C., Lefley, D.V., Moore, C.K., Amariutei, A.E., Spicer-Hadlington, A.R., Quayle, L.A., ... Ottewell, P.D. (2021). IL-1B drives opposing responses in primary tumours and bone metastases; harnessing combination therapies to improve outcome in breast cancer. npj breast cancer, 7 (1). http://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-021-00305-w

Quayle, L.A., Ottewell, P.D., & Holen, I. (2018). Chemotherapy resistance and stemness in mitotically quiescent human breast cancer cells identified by fluorescent dye retention. Clinical & experimental metastasis, 35 (8), 831-846. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-018-9946-2

Quayle, L., Ottewell, P., & Holen, I. (2018). Therapeutic resistance and stemness in mitoticallyquiescent human breast cancer cells [abstract only]. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 167 (1), 393-394. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-017-4585-x

Quayle, L.A., Pereira, M.G., Scheper, G., Wiltshire, T., Peake, R.E., Hussain, I., ... Bates, T.E. (2017). Anti-angiogenic drugs: direct anti-cancer agents with mitochondrial mechanisms of action. Oncotarget, 8 (51), 88670-88688. http://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.20858

Quayle, L., Park, S., McDonnell, D.P., Ottewell, P.D., & Holen, I. (2017). Abstract P3-07-14: Targeting ERR-α regulated lactate metabolism eliminates drug-resistant breast cancer cells. Cancer Research, 77 (4_Supp). http://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.sabcs16-p3-07-14

Quayle, L., Ottewell, P.D., & Holen, I. (2015). Bone Metastasis: Molecular Mechanisms Implicated in Tumour Cell Dormancy in Breast and Prostate Cancer. Current cancer drug targets, 15 (6), 469-480. http://doi.org/10.2174/1568009615666150506092443

Conference papers

Crabb, S., Hussain, S., Oughton, J., Swain, J., Cairns, D., Collinson, M., ... Catto, J. (2024). Use of gene expression patterns to identify unique molecular subtypes in muscle invasive bladder cancer: GUSTO [abstract only]. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 42 (16 sup). http://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2024.42.16_suppl.TPS4621

Griffin, J., Down, J., Quayle, L., Heath, P., & Catto, J. (2023). Pathology against the clock: Verification of gene expression subtyping for the GUSTO clinical trial [abstract only]. The Journal of Pathology, 261 (S1). http://doi.org/10.1002/path.6226

Quayle, L., Ottewell, P., & Holen, I. (2018). Therapeutic Resistance and Stemness in Mitotically Quiescent Human Breast Cancer Cells [Abstract only]. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 167, 309-405. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-017-4585-x

Quayle, L., Park, S.H., McDonnell, D., Ottewell, P., & Holen, I. (2017). Targeting ERR-α Regulated Lactate Metabolism Eliminates Drug-Resistant Breast Cancer Cells [abstract only]. Cancer Research, 77 (4 supp). https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/77/4_Supplement/P3-07-14/623952/Abstract-P3-07-14-Targeting-ERR-regulated-lactate

Book chapters

Holen, I., & Quayle, L. (2021). Stem cell niches in bone and their roles in cancer metastasis. In Advances in Stem Cells and their Niches. (pp. 35-62). Elsevier: http://doi.org/10.1016/bs.asn.2020.09.002

Ottewell, P.D., & Quayle, L.A. (2020). Tumor Dormancy in The Bone. In Encyclopedia of Bone Biology. (pp. 166-179). Elsevier: http://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-801238-3.11239-5

Theses / Dissertations

Quayle, L. (2018). Identification and Characterisation of Mitotically Quiescent Sub-Clones in Breast Cancer. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Ottewell, P., & Holen, I.

Software / Code

Quayle, L. (2022). quicKM: an online tool for speedy survival analysis. Sheffield University. http://doi.org/10.15131/shef.data.19236744

Other activities

Editorial Board Member - Clinical & Experimental Metastasis

Reviewer for Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, Clinical & Experimental Metastasis, Discover Oncology, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Scientific Reports

Instructor - Data, Software and Library Carpentry (The Carpentries: https://carpentries.org/)