Professor Liam Murray had a distinguished career in Public Health and Epidemiology, and some 20 years of his career was dedicated to furthering knowledge and insights into Cancer Epidemiology research. A personal tribute to Professor Murray from our current Centre Director can be found here.

Liam was Acting Director of the Centre for Public Health at QUB from 2016-2018, and was the Director of the Masters in Public Health course.  He had a particular research interest in cancers of the upper gastro-intestinal tract, especially oesophageal adenocarcinoma and its pre-cursor condition, Barrett’s oesophagus. Liam also had a major interest in pharmaco-epidemiological studies in the cancer field with a focus on the impact of commonly prescribed medications on cancer incidence and progression. He co-established, within Northern Ireland, unique tissue and databanks that enabled Molecular Oncology and Molecular Pathology Epidemiology studies to be undertaken exploring risk factors for cancer development/ progression on a population basis stratified by tumour molecular characteristics. In the latter part of his career, he developed a programme of cancer research in low/middle-income countries especially Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

As the founder of the Cancer Epidemiology research group, Professor Murray demonstrated many noble qualities and contributed greatly to: research excellence, collaboration, and an unrivalled talent for identifying and mentoring early career researchers. To honour these qualities of our fondly remembered colleague, and his research legacy, the Cancer Epidemiology Research Group host an annual symposium dedicated to Professor Murray, featuring a distinguished guest speaker who also embodies qualities of research excellence, collaboration and mentorship in cancer epidemiology and prevention research.

Professor Liam Murray Cancer Epidemiology symposium distinguished guest speakers:

• 2019: Dr Harry Comber, Former Director of the National Cancer Registry of Ireland, Cork
• 2020: Professor Richard Martin, University of Bristol
• 2021: Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, University of Cambridge
• 2022: Professor Hoang Van Minh, Hanoi University of Public Health, Vietnam
• 2023: Dr Núria Malats, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Spain
• 2024: Professor Kathleen Bennett, School of Population Health, RCSI, Dublin