Simone Zaccaria

CRUK Career Development Fellow
Group Leader of @CCG_UCL at the UCL CI @CRUKLungCentre and Visiting Scientist at the Francis Crick

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

🚨So proud to present the first study from our @CCG_UCL group together with @CharlesSwanton @NnennayaKanu and led by @ojlucas with key collaboration @Ward__Sophie and fundamental support @Rija_Zaidi_ @abi_bunkum & many others

Out in @NatureGenet 👇
https://t.co/cd7YkBBDxo

🧵👇

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

Join us In London for #MAP2026 to think how we can shape the next generation of molecular precision oncology! #esmomeetings

👇

[ESMO - Eur. Oncology @myESMO]

👉 Dr. Lisa Derosa calls on you to be part of the mission shaping the next generation in oncology. Join the global community at the Molecular Analysis for Precision Oncology Congress 2026 in London, 10–11 September.
⏰ Register by 8 July and save! #MAP2026 #esmomeetings

🔗 https://t.co/LCF4jPtKlv

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

On a personal note, it was incredibly special to finally wear the gown from my own graduating university, @unimib. Thanks @ucl for this! 🇮🇹🎓

A wonderful reminder of where my pathway started at @unimib Informatica, and of @BonizzoniPaola who, in turn, supported me at the time 🙏

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

🎓 ABSOLUTELY BURSTING WITH PRIDE!
Huge congrats to our @CCG_UCL first doctoral graduates: Dr @Rija_Zaidi_, Dr @abi_bunkum & Dr @ojlucas! 🎉

Whatever pathways they choose next, I have no doubt these brilliant minds will lead critical advances in our society—we're all so lucky!✨

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

Huge thanks to @ucl for organising such a wonderful celebration & infinitely grateful to everyone who supported along the way 🙏

🙏 @uclcancer @CRUKresearch @The_MRC @wellcometrust @CRUKCOLcentre @RosetreesT @uclmedsci 🙏

[OncoDaily Lung @OncodailyLung]

🫁 What if lung cancer metastases are not just destinations, but active sources of further spread?

A new Nature study from TRACERx–PEACE offers one of the most detailed evolutionary maps of NSCLC metastasis to date.

Using 501 longitudinally collected primary and metastatic tumor samples from 24 patients, researchers reconstructed how lung cancer spread from diagnosis to death, and the findings challenge the simple “primary tumor → metastasis” model.

Key signals:

🧬 62.5% of patients had multiple primary tumor subclones that seeded distinct metastases

🔁 60% of sampled metastases were seeded by other metastases

⏳ Metastases present for longer were more likely to seed further disease

📍 Most metastatic migrations stayed within the same anatomical cavity

⚠️ Subclones that escaped the thorax were enriched for chromosomal instability

The message is clear: metastatic NSCLC is not static. It is spatially organized, genetically diverse, and continuously evolving.

This study does not immediately change clinical practice, but it gives a powerful biological rationale for better relapse monitoring, deeper metastatic profiling, and carefully selected local treatment strategies.

https://t.co/i8XjSoDUL0

@SonyaHessey @AMIHuebner @HaaseKerstin @KristianaGrigo4 @wingkinliu @ojlucas @FVasilopoulou @ProfSiowMingLee @DionysisPastos @MatthewGKrebs @LeQuesneLab @dean_fennell @crispinhiley @ZaccaSimo @NickyMcGranahan @CharlesSwanton

#LungCancer #NSCLC #TRACERx #PEACEStudy #Metastasis #CancerEvolution #TumorHeterogeneity #ChromosomalInstability #PrecisionOncology #ThoracicOncology #OncoDaily #OncoDailyLung

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

🚨 Huge honour to have helped supervise this landmark PEACE study!

New insights into metastasis + a unique dataset of unprecedented resolution on metastatic evolution and dissemination that we hope will drive future advances
🙏 @CR_UK @CRUKresearch.

Please take a look 👇

[Sonya Hessey @SonyaHessey]

Through the integration of the #PEACE autopsy programme, which allows high breadth metastasis sampling, with the #TRACERx lung study, we collected and studied 501 primary and metastatic tumour samples from 24 patients with #NSCLC enrolled in the both studies. 2/9

[Cancer Grand Challenges @CancerGrand]

Congratulations to @CharlesSwanton, Mariam Jamal-Hanjani and colleagues on their fascinating analysis of the evolution of lung cancer metastasis published in @Nature!
https://t.co/96aszH5GBW

[Sonya Hessey @SonyaHessey]

@benjraphael Very fortunate to work alongside a fantastic team: @abi_bunkum @HaaseKerstin @AMIHuebner @KristianaGrigo4 Cristina Naceur-Lombardelli steered by: Mariam Jamal-Hanjani @CharlesSwanton @NickyMcGranahan @ZaccaSimo

[Sonya Hessey @SonyaHessey]

Using MACHINA from @benjraphael's lab to infer metastatic migration patterns, we found that NSCLC primaries had multiple seeding subclones more often than a single seeding subclone. 4/9

[Sonya Hessey @SonyaHessey]

Through the integration of the #PEACE autopsy programme, which allows high breadth metastasis sampling, with the #TRACERx lung study, we collected and studied 501 primary and metastatic tumour samples from 24 patients with #NSCLC enrolled in the both studies. 2/9

[Charles Swanton @CharlesSwanton]

Online here: https://t.co/nzzWChWPkD
Open access here: https://t.co/MEUA5HUeGx
Key supporters of this work are @CR_UK , @CRUKLungCentre , @UCLHresearch alongside many others

[Charles Swanton @CharlesSwanton]

Excited to share our ‘Evolutionary characterization of #LungCancer metastasis’ in #TRACERx & #PEACE, published today in @Nature: a decade spanning effort led by the Jamal-Hanjani lab, @SwantonLab, @NickyMcGranahan & @ZaccaSimo at @uclcancer & @TheCrick. Link below

[Oriol Pich @oriol_pich]

Happy to share our latest study @Nature , where we evaluate somatic evolution and the effect of treatment in normal tissue using duplex sequencing 1/n

https://t.co/fr1Cbj7SDU

[Nicholas Navin @nicholas_navin]

Excited to share our latest study in @CELL @MDAndersonNews a new single cell DNA&RNA co-assay technology (wellDR-seq) used to study the interactions of DNA copy number and gene expression during breast cancer progression led by @KaileWang @RuiYejerry

https://t.co/99NxcuhzYN

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

As always, we are hugely grateful to our funders @CRUKresearch , @RosetreesT and @CRUKCOLcentre for supporting @abi_bunkum and my contribution to this important work; none of this would have been possible without them! 🙏

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

🚨 Thrilled to have helped @NickyMcGranahan co-supervise this brilliant work!
ALPACA shows how SNVs can be used as barcodes to untangle complex evolution of clone-specific CNAs, revealing their crucial role in cancer progression and their prognostic potential!

Read more👇

[Nicholas McGranahan @NickyMcGranahan]

Excited to share our new paper in @Nature, led by @PiotrekPaw_ @KristianaGrigo4 ! 🧬 We developed a new method, ALPACA, to untangle the co-evolution of single nucleotide variants and copy number changes in tumours.
Check it out: https://t.co/Aee2xcJKrI

[Nicholas McGranahan @NickyMcGranahan]

We're hiring a sequencing technician for #TRACERx! Interested in cutting-edge genomic tech to understand cancer? 👉 https://t.co/IDBrhpAR1p #Genomics #CancerResearch Join our world-leading teams at @TheCrick & @uclcancer

[Simone Zaccaria @ZaccaSimo]

🚨 We're hiring a sequencing technician in #TRACERx!
Join world-leading teams at @TheCrick & @uclcancer, working at the forefront of cancer research.
Interested in cutting-edge genomic tech to understand cancer? Apply now!

👉 https://t.co/09TJas2tNw

#Genomics #CancerResearch

[ISCB News @iscb]

We're a month out from #ISMBECCB2025! 

You can now access the abridged agenda, downloadable schedules, poster listings, and SciFinder search tool links directly from the homepage: https://t.co/kigqcRUPXP

Click the link you need, or use the Programme &  Agenda menu for more options!

[ISCB News @iscb]

Be a part of ISMB/ECCB 2025: Shape the future of computational biology. Attend in-person in Liverpool or virtually for live sessions, Q&A, and exclusive networking. Elevate your research at the forefront of bioinformatics!