# Serena Nik-Zainal

Source: https://onco.cc/people/serena-nik-zainal/  
OnCo record `serena-nik-zainal` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Deciphered the mutational signatures written in cancer genomes and turned them into clinical tests like HRDetect.

## Summary

Serena Nik-Zainal led the whole-genome analysis of 560 breast cancers that catalogued mutational signatures and rearrangement patterns, and developed HRDetect, which identifies homologous recombination-deficient tumours beyond BRCA carriers and predicts PARP inhibitor sensitivity. Her group analysed the 100,000 Genomes Project cancers and builds signature-based tools for the NHS. She won the Francis Crick Medal in 2019.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: genomics; mutational-signatures; uk
- Role: Professor of Genomic Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Cambridge; Honorary Consultant in Clinical Genetics
- Specialisms: Mutational signatures; Whole-genome sequencing; Breast cancer genomics; Clinical genomics

## Sources

- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Nik-Zainal%20S%5BAuthor%5D%20mutational%20signatures

## Connected records

- cancers: [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- technologies: [HRD & BRCA testing](https://onco.cc/technologies/hrd-testing/), [Whole-exome & whole-genome sequencing](https://onco.cc/technologies/wes-wgs/)
- targets: [BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD)](https://onco.cc/targets/brca/), [PARP](https://onco.cc/targets/parp/)
- institutions: [Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre / CRUK Cambridge Institute](https://onco.cc/institutions/cruk-cambridge-centre/)
- key papers: [Cancer genome landscapes: about 140 driver genes, and each tumour needs only a handful](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-vogelstein-cancer-genome-landscapes-science-2013/)
- terms: [Driver and passenger mutations: the refined somatic mutation theory](https://onco.cc/terms/driver-passenger-model/)

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