Jonathan C. M. Wan

Dr. Jonathan C. M. Wan, MB BChir PhD, is an internationally recognized physician-scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of cancer liquid biopsy. His research focuses on developing new, more sensitive methods for detecting cancer in blood using circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). 

Despite progress in the cancer liquid biopsy field, detecting ctDNA in patients with early-stage or residual disease remains challenging due to the very small amount of DNA released into the bloodstream. 

Wan’s innovation uses computational biology to search for combinations of mutations, or "mutational signatures", to boost sensitivity.  As identifying multiple characteristic target mutations for each cancer increases the chances of detection, the use of mutational signatures can accurately detect relapse after surgery and early-stage cancers.

This approach has delivered a ten-fold increase in sensitivity for ctDNA, unlocking the possibility of detecting early-stage and residual cancer using only a single drop of blood.

His work has resulted in multiple lead-inventor patents, which are being used in industry and translated into novel diagnostics for improved cancer care. 

Alongside his clinical practice, Wan has published first-author papers on circulating tumour DNA detection in Nature Reviews Cancer, Science Translational Medicine and Nature Communications and has published senior author papers on liquid biopsy data science in Lancet Oncology and Trends in Cancer.