Biography
Dr. Mark Ward graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2012 with a BA (Mod.) in Biochemistry. Following this, he completed his PhD in 2016 in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in Trinity College Dublin investigating the role of Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in the regulation of matrix metalloproteinases in liver cancer.
His current research focuses on the area of "Liquid Biopsy" and the isolation and molecular characterisation of rare circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and the identification of somatic tumour specific mutations in circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). His research interests also include the role of platelets/immune cells in mediating cancer metastasis and the mechanisms of tumour associated thrombosis in gynaecological cancers.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9356-7246
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Hindes MT, McElligott AM, Best OG, Ward MP, Selemidis S, Miles MA, Nturubika BD, Gregory PA, Anderson PH, Logan JM, Butler LM, Waugh DJ, O'Leary JJ, Hickey SM, Thurgood LA, Brooks DA., Metabolic reprogramming, malignant transformation and metastasis: Lessons from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and prostate cancer., Cancer letters, 611, 2025, p217441
Nturubika BD, Logan J, Johnson IRD, Moore C, Li KL, Tang J, Lam G, Parkinson-Lawrence E, Williams DB, Chakiris J, Hindes M, Brooks RD, Miles MA, Selemidis S, Gregory P, Weigert R, Butler L, Ward MP, Waugh DJJ, O'Leary JJ, Brooks DA., Components of the Endosome-Lysosome Vesicular Machinery as Drivers of the Metastatic Cascade in Prostate Cancer., Cancers, 17, (1), 2024, p43
M Saini, Volga, Oner, Ezgi, Ward, Mark P., Hurley, Sinead, Henderson, Brian David, Lewis, Faye, Finn, Stephen P., Fitzmaurice, Gerard J., O'Leary, John J., O'Toole, Sharon, O'Driscoll, Lorraine, Gately, Kathy, A comparative study of circulating tumor cell isolation and enumeration technologies in lung cancer, Molecular Oncology, 2024
Ward MP, Ibrahim EM, O'Toole SA, Marchocki Z, O'Leary JJ, Saadeh FA, Norris LA., Chemotherapy alters thrombomodulin and factor VIIIc expression resulting in acquired activated protein C resistance and enhanced thrombin generation in cancer associated thrombosis., Thrombosis research, 246, 2024, p109251
Lewis F, Beirne J, Henderson B, Norris L, Cadoo K, Kelly T, Martin C, Hurley S, Kanjuga M, O'Driscoll L, Gately K, Oner E, Saini V, Brooks D, Selemidis S, Kamran W, Haughey N, Maguire P, O'Gorman C, Saadeh FA, Ward MP, O'Leary JJ, O'Toole SA., Unravelling the biological and clinical challenges of circulating tumour cells in epithelial ovarian carcinoma., Cancer letters, 2024, p217279
Ward, Mark P., O'Toole, Sharon A., O'Leary, John J., Potential role of the CD39-CD73 ATP-adenosine pathway in platelet mediated dissemination of circulating tumour cells, British Journal of Cancer, 2024
Lazniewska J, Li KL, Johnson IRD, Sorvina A, Logan JM, Martini C, Moore C, Ung BS, Karageorgos L, Hickey SM, Prabhakaran S, Heatlie JK, Brooks RD, Huzzell C, Warnock NI, Ward MP, Mohammed B, Tewari P, Martin C, O'Toole S, Edgerton LB, Bates M, Moretti P, Pitson SM, Selemidis S, Butler LM, O'Leary JJ, Brooks DA., Dynamic interplay between sortilin and syndecan-1 contributes to prostate cancer progression., Scientific reports, 13, (1), 2023, p13489
Mohamed BM, Ward MP, Bates M, Spillane CD, Kelly T, Martin C, Gallagher M, Heffernan S, Norris L, Kennedy J, Saadeh FA, Gleeson N, Brooks DA, Brooks RD, Selemidis S, O'Toole S, O'Leary JJ., Ex vivo expansion of circulating tumour cells (CTCs)., Scientific reports, 13, (1), 2023, p3704 - 3704
Bates M, Mohamed BM, Ward MP, Kelly TE, O'Connor R, Malone V, Brooks R, Brooks D, Selemidis S, Martin C, O'Toole S, O'Leary JJ., Circulating tumour cells: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly., Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer, 1878, (2), 2023, p188863
Logan JM, Hopkins AM, Martini C, Sorvina A, Tewari P, Prabhakaran S, Huzzell C, Johnson IRD, Hickey SM, Ung BS, Lazniewska J, Brooks RD, Moore CR, Caruso MC, Karageorgos L, Martin CM, O'Toole S, Bogue Edgerton L, Ward MP, Bates M, Selemidis S, Esterman A, Heffernan S, Keegan H, Ní Mhaolcatha S, O'Connor R, Malone V, Carter M, Ryan K, Clarke A, Brady N, Klebe S, Samaratunga H, Delahunt B, Sorich MJ, Moretti K, Butler LM, O'Leary JJ, Brooks DA., Prediction of Prostate Cancer Biochemical and Clinical Recurrence Is Improved by IHC-Assisted Grading Using Appl1, Sortilin and Syndecan-1., Cancers, 15, (12), 2023, p3215
Kelly TE, Spillane CL, Ward MP, Hokamp K, Huang Y, Tewari P, Martin CM, Norris LA, Mohamed BM, Bates M, Brooks R, Selemidis S, Brooks DA, Kamran W, Saadeh FA, O'Toole SA, O'Leary JJ., Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 is associated with high-grade serous ovarian cancer metastasis and is reduced in patients who have received neoadjuvant chemotherapy., Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, 11, 2023, p1150991
Ward MP, Lochrin SE, Ovarere C, O'Gorman C, Kane LE, Mohamed BM, Bates M, Kelly TE, O'Connor R, Kennedy J, Cadoo K, Kamran W, Beirne J, Abu Saadeh F, Martin CM, Norris LA, O'Toole SA, O'leary JJ, Platelets and immune call cloaking of circulating tumour cells in breast and ovarian cancer, Research Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis, International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis, London, July 2022, 6, ((supplement 2)), Wiley, 2022, ppPB0931 - PB0931
Martini C, Logan JM, Sorvina A, Gordon C, Beck AR, S-Y Ung B, Caruso MC, Moore C, Hocking A, Johnson IRD, Li KL, Karageorgos L, Hopkins AM, Esterman AJ, Huzzell C, Brooks RD, Lazniewska J, Hickey SM, Bader C, Parkinson-Lawrence E, Weigert R, Sorich MJ, Tewari P, Martin C, O'Toole S, Bates M, Ward M, Mohammed B, Keegan H, Watson W, Prendergast S, Heffernan S, NiMhaolcatha S, O'Connor R, Malone V, Carter M, Ryan K, Brady N, Clarke A, Sokol F, Prabhakaran S, Stahl J, Klebe S, Samaratunga H, Delahunt B, Selemidis S, Moretti KL, Butler LM, O'Leary JJ, Brooks DA., Aberrant protein expression of Appl1, Sortilin and Syndecan-1 during the biological progression of prostate cancer., Pathology, 2022, pS0031-3025(22)00226-4
Ward MP, O'Toole SA, Abu Saadeh F, Marchocki Z, Ibrahim EM, Martin F, Gleeon N, O'leary JJ, Norris LA, Mechanisms of cancer associated thrombosis in gynaecological cancer patients- tumour or treatment effect?, Research Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis, International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis, London, July 2022, 6, (Supplement 2), Wiley, 2022, ppPB0752 - PB0752
Ward MP, Ibrahim E, O'Toole S, Gleeson N, Abu Saadeh F, O'Donnell D, Norris LA, Thrombomodulin as a marker for VTE following neoadjuvant chemotherapy, Thrombosis Research, International Congress on Issues in Thrombosis in Cancer , Bergamo, Italy, May 2022, 213, ((6) Supplement 2), Elsevier, 2022, ppS13 - S14
Mark P Ward, Mark Bates, Bashir Mohamed, Tanya Kelly, Roisin O'Connor, Robert Brooks, Doug Brooks, Stavros Selemidis, Celine Ovaere, Jane Tully, Patrick Maguire, Catherine O'Gorman, Waseem Kamran, James Beirne, Feras Saadeh, Noreen Gleeson, Lucy Norris, Cara Martin, Sharon O'Toole, John O'Leary, Isolation and characterisation of circulating tumour cells from ovarian cancer patients, LABORATORY INVESTIGATION, March 2022, 102, (SUPPL 1), SPRINGER NATURE, 2022
O'Toole SA, Huang Y, Norris L, Power Foley M, Shireen R, McDonald S, Kamran W, Ibrahim N, Ward M, Thompson C, Murphy C, D'Arcy T, Farah N, Heron E, O'Leary JJ, Abu Saadeh F, Gleeson N., HE4 and CA125 as preoperative risk stratifiers for lymph node metastasis in endometrioid carcinoma of the endometrium: A retrospective study in a cohort with histological proof of lymph node status., Gynecologic oncology, 2021
Spillane CD, Cooke NM, Ward MP, Kenny D, Blackshields G, Kelly T, Bates M, Huang Y, Martin C, Skehan S, Canney A, Gallagher M, Smyth P, Brady N, Clarke A, Mohamed B, Norris L, Brooks DA, Brooks RD, Heatlie JK, Selemidis S, Hanniffy S, Dixon E, Sheils O, O'Toole SA, O'Leary JJ., The induction of a mesenchymal phenotype by platelet cloaking of cancer cells is a universal phenomenon., Translational oncology, 14, (12), 2021, p101229
Ward, M.P., Kane, L.E., Norris, L.A et al. , Platelets, immune cells and the coagulation cascade; friend or foe of the circulating tumour cell?, Molecular Cancer, 20, 2021, p59-
Di Fiore R, Suleiman S, Drago-Ferrante R, Felix A, O'Toole SA, O'Leary JJ, Ward MP, Beirne J, Yordanov A, Vasileva-Slaveva M, Subbannayya Y, Pentimalli F, Giordano A, Calleja-Agius J., LncRNA MORT (ZNF667-AS1) in Cancer-Is There a Possible Role in Gynecological Malignancies?, International journal of molecular sciences, 22, (15), 2021
Ward, Mark P., Saadeh, Feras Abu, O'Toole, Sharon A., O'Leary, John J., Gleeson, Noreen, Norris, Lucy A., Procoagulant activity in high grade serous ovarian cancer patients following neoadjuvant chemotherapy-The role of the activated protein C pathway, Thrombosis Research, 200, 2021, p91 - 98
Sabol M, Calleja-Agius J, Di Fiore R, Suleiman S, Ozcan S, Ward MP, Ozreti" P., (In)Distinctive Role of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Common and Rare Ovarian Cancers., Cancers, 13, (20), 2021
Di Fiore R, Suleiman S, Pentimalli F, O'Toole SA, O'Leary JJ, Ward MP, Conlon NT, Sabol M, Ozreti" P, Erson-Bensan AE, Reed N, Giordano A, Herrington CS, Calleja-Agius J., Could MicroRNAs Be Useful Tools to Improve the Diagnosis and Treatment of Rare Gynecological Cancers? A Brief Overview., International journal of molecular sciences, 22, (8), 2021
Mark P. Ward, Extracellular vesicles in ovarian cancer-A role in venous thromboembolism?, Thrombosis Update, 3, 2021
Riccardo Di Fiore, Sherif Suleiman, Ana Felix, Sharon A O'Toole, John J O'Leary, Mark P Ward, James Beirne, Maja Sabol, Petar Ozretić, Angel Yordanov, Mariela Vasileva-Slaveva, Stoyan Kostov, Margarita Nikolova, Ian Said-Huntingford, Duncan Ayers, Bridget Ellul, Francesca Pentimalli, Antonio Giordano, Jean Calleja-Agius, An Overview of the Role of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Human Choriocarcinoma, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22, 2021
Norris LA, Ward MP, O'Toole SA, Marchocki Z, Ibrahim N, Khashan AS, Abu Saadeh F, Gleeson N., A risk score for prediction of venous thromboembolism in gynecologic cancer: The Thrombogyn score., Res Pract Thromb Haemost, 4, (5), 2020, p848-859
O'Toole SA, Spillane C, Huang Y, Fitzgerald MC, Ffrench B, Mohamed B, Ward M, Gallagher M, Kelly T, O'Brien C, Ruttle C, Bogdanska A, Martin C, Mullen D, Connolly E, McGarrigle SA, Kennedy J, O'Leary JJ., Circulating tumour cell enumeration does not correlate with Miller-Payne grade in a cohort of breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy., Breast cancer research and treatment, 181, (3), 2020, p571-580
Useckaite Z, Ward MP, Trappe A, Reilly R, Lennon J, Davage H, Matallanas D, Cassidy H, Dillon ET, Brennan K, Doyle SL, Carter S, Donnelly S, Linnane B, McKone EF, McNally P, Coppinger JA., Increased extracellular vesicles mediate inflammatory signalling in cystic fibrosis., Thorax, 75, (6), 2020, p449-458
LA Norris, F Abu Saadeh, M Ward, SA O'Toole, Z Marchocki, N. Ibrahim, N Gleeson, Development and validation of a risk model for prediction of venous thromboembolism in gynaecological cancer patients, Thrombosis Research, International Congress on Thrombosis and Haemostasis Issues in Cancer, Bergamo, April 2018, 164, (Supplement 1), Elsevier, 2018, ppS183 - S184
Ward MP, Abu Saadeh, F, O'Toole S, Marchocki Z, Gleeson N, Norris LA, Optimisation of Thrombin Generation as a Predictive Biomarker for Venous Thromboembolism in Gynaecological Malignancies, Research Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis, International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Dublin, July 2018, 2018
Shields S, Conroy E, O'Grady T, McGoldrick A, Connor K, Ward MP, Useckaite Z, Dempsey E, Reilly R, Fan Y, Chubb A, Matallanas DG, Kay EW, O'Connor D, McCann A, Gallagher WM, Coppinger JA., BAG3 promotes tumour cell proliferation by regulating EGFR signal transduction pathways in triple negative breast cancer., Oncotarget, 9, (21), 2018, p15673-15690
Ward MP, Spiers JP., Protein phosphatase 2A regulation of markers of extracellular matrix remodelling in hepatocellular carcinoma cells: functional consequences for tumour invasion., British journal of pharmacology, 174, (10), 2017, p1116-1130
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Mark P. Ward, Bashir M. Mohamed, Laura Kane, Mark Bates, Janina Berghoff, Cathy L. Spillane, Tanya Kelly, John Kennedy, Feras A. Saadeh, Karsten Hokamp, Noreen Gleeson, Orla Sheils, Cara Martin, Michael Gallagher, Sean Hannify, Eric P. Dixon, Sharon A. O'Toole and John J. O'Leary, Influence of platelets and neutrophils on circulating tumour cells, AACR Annual Meeting , Philadelphia, PA, 2020; April 27-28, 80, (16), American Association for Cancer Research, 2020
Research Expertise
Description
Liquid Biopsy (CTCs, ctDNA, EVs) in cancer, cancer associated thrombosis and platelet/immune cell mediated cancer metastasis.Recognition
Memberships
European Association for Cancer Research
The Irish Society for Gynaecological Oncology (ISGO)