Rate My Professor Valerie Speirs

Professor Valerie Speirs holds the position of Chair in Molecular Oncology within the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen. She obtained her BSc (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Aberdeen in 1986 and her PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Glasgow in 1990. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Her career trajectory includes postdoctoral positions at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and at the universities of Liverpool and Hull. She launched her independent research career at the University of Hull before advancing to a Personal Chair in Experimental Pathology and Oncology at the University of Leeds in 2012. In July 2018, she returned to her alma mater, the University of Aberdeen, as Chair in Molecular Oncology, while retaining a visiting professorship at Leeds. She also serves as Co-Director of the Aberdeen Cancer Centre, fostering collaborative bench-to-bedside research to enhance patient outcomes.

Professor Speirs specializes in cancer biology, with a focus on breast cancer, including male breast cancer, and glioblastoma. Her research explores biomarkers, oestrogen receptor biology—particularly oestrogen receptor β regulation and expression—the breast cancer microenvironment, tumour-stroma interactions, and the effects of endocrine disrupting agents. She utilizes innovative methodologies such as digital pathology, 3D cell culture models, Raman spectroscopy, and fast-field cycling MRI, prioritizing alternatives to animal testing. Notable contributions include founding the Breast Cancer Now Tissue Bank, which supplies breast cancer tissue samples to researchers UK-wide and internationally, leading its Aberdeen centre, and establishing SEARCHBreast, a virtual resource for sharing surplus materials from animal studies to minimize animal use. She maintains one of the largest collections of male breast cancer tissue microarrays and collaborates closely with clinicians including pathologists, surgeons, radiologists, and oncologists. Key publications encompass 'Male Breast Cancer: Growing Insights and Continuing Challenges' (2026, Cancer Medicine), 'A compendium of adipocyte morphologies across different breast pathologies' (2025, Adipocyte), 'Towards greener and more sustainable pre-clinical oncology research' (2025, BJC Reports), and 'Effects of bisphenol A and its chemical analogues on the microenvironment and female breast cancer development' (2025, World Academy of Sciences Journal). She received the Breast Cancer Now award for Outstanding Contribution to Breast Cancer Research in 2011. Professor Speirs holds significant committee roles, including Honorary Secretary and Chair of the Meetings and Training Committee for the British Association for Cancer Research, member of the National Cancer Research Institute’s Cellular Molecular Pathology group, and recently appointed Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel for the Centre for Human Specific Research.