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Dr Rebecca Fitzgerald is a medical researcher whose work focuses on the early detection and treatment of oesophageal cancers. She is a tenured Program Leader and Professor of Cancer Prevention at the Medical Research Council Cancer Unit of the University of Cambridge.

Education
Fitzgerald received her BA in Medicine from the University of Cambridge. In 1997, she completed an MD at Stanford University under the guidance of George Triadafilopoulos.

Career and research
Fitzgerald’s postdoctoral work took place at the Department of Adult and Paediatric Gastroenterology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and at The Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, where she was supervised by Michael Farthing and funded by an MRC Clinical Scientist award.

After her postdoctoral positions, Fitzgerald began her own research group at the MRC Cancer Unit in Cambridge. In 2004, Fitzgerald and her group developed Cytosponge, a novel screening test for Barrett’s oesophagus, a common precursor to the often deadly oesophageal cancers, oesophageal adenocarcinoma and oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Cytosponge is comprised of a pill-sized capsule that contains a sponge, and is attached to a string. The capsule is swallowed, which expands into a sponge in the stomach. The sponge is then pulled out by the string, collecting cells from the oesophageal wall along the way. Subsequent biological analysis of the collected cells determines whether a patient has Barrett’s. Cytosponge has been praised for its minimally invasive, economical design compared to the current standard for identifying Barrett’s oesophagus, the endoscopy. The procedure is now in its third clinical trial, which will see it tested on 9,000 patients in the UK.

In addition to her professorship, Fitzgerald is currently the Director of Medical Studies for Trinity College, Cambridge, where she is also a Fellow. She is also an Honorary Consultant in Gastroenterology and General Medicine at Cambridge’s Addenbrooke's Hospital.

Fitzgerald has contributed to the public dialog regarding cancer research, having appeared on broadcasts for BBC Radio 4 and for ABC Radio Australia, Health of the Nation.

Awards and honours
In recognition of her work on Cytosponge and the early treatment of Barrett’s oesophagus, Fitzgerald was awarded the Westminster Medal in 2004. In 2008, she was the recipient of a Lister Prize Fellowship, and in 2008 she received an NHS Innovation Prize. In 2013, Fitzgerald won an NIHR Research Professorship for her work.

The Royal College of Physicians appointed Fitzgerald as its Goulstonian Lecturer. She was also awarded the British Society of Gastroenterology’s Sir Francis Avery Jones Award. In 2013, Fitzgerald was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Fitzgerald has also won a grant from the Evelyn Trust “as she works to develop effective screening that will benefit patients worldwide.”