Dr Wai Liu
We are delighted to welcome Dr Wai Liu back to the ICVI team. Wai received his PhD in Medical Oncology from St Bartholomew’s Hospital, University of London in 2001. During this time he developed models to assess the effect of combining chemotherapies with other treatment modalities as a way to enhancing activity. Wai has worked in a cancer research environment for over twenty years. He is a prominent scientist in the field of cannabinoid research, which is an area he has actively engaged for over fifteen years. His team was the first to demonstrate a benefit in combining cannabinoids and irradiation in models of brain cancer. Like Professor Dalgleish, Wai is interested in developing new combination strategies that utilise re-purposed drugs, including Naltrexone, anti malarial drugs and immunomodulatory drugs like Thalidomide. He has also investigated ways in enhancing anticancer activity by modifying the pathological associations between immune and tumour cells by using immune-targeting drugs. Wai is a key opinion leader on cannabis research and is regularly contacted by the media for his opinions on cannabinoids as a cancer treatment. Wai is currently undertaking a one year study to determine the mechanism(s) of action underpinning the molecular interaction between immune-modulatory agents. These will focus on calcitriol, low dose naltrexone and cannabinoids, and studies will provide supporting data that adds to the evidence of these drugs used in patients with cancer.