This exciting project will commence in September 2022 and has funding for 3 years. The student will be based primarily at the Barts Cancer Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD), Charterhouse Square in the City of London.
This is a Barts Centre for Squamous Cancer - Alexandra Carrell funded PhD studentship.
Background
Although immunotherapy (e.g., immune checkpoint blockade) has shown great promise in the treatment of cancers such as melanoma and Hodgkin lymphoma, the overall response rate is still below 30% for most other cancer types, including squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Understanding mechanisms of response and resistance will allow the design of rational combinational strategies with immunotherapy. This PhD project will identify tumour-intrinsic changes that mediate and promote immune evasion leading to strategies to overcome immunotherapy resistance in squamous cancers.
Hypothesis
Functional genomic alternations acquired by squamous cancer cells act in a coordinated manner to regulate immune signalling, which can increase the sensitivity or resistance of squamous cancer cells to immune cell mediated toxicity. Across the many different tissue sites of SCC development including skin, oesophagus and oral cavity, we propose there are shared SCC tumour-intrinsic characteristics and immune evasion mechanisms to design pan-SCC therapies, as well as those specific to the SCC sites.
Aims
This multidisciplinary project will expand our knowledge of tumour-intrinsic mechanisms of immune response and evasion across SCCs, providing pan-SCC targets for combination strategies with immunotherapy.
Student training
Student will be trained with cutting-edge bioinformatics, data analytics, immunogenomics and functional genomics techniques, including genome-wide CRISPR screens, CRISPR-Cas9 gene knockout and RNA-seq. These are all highly desirable in their future career.
Academic Entry Requirements
All applicants should have or be expecting:
English Language Requirements
Applicants for whom English is not a first language will also require a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 (with 6.0 in the written component) or equivalent, unless your undergraduate degree was studied in, and awarded by, an English speaking country. For more information on acceptable English language qualifications please see here.
Fee Status
The funding for this studentship only covers tuition fees at the Home rate. Overseas applicants are welcome to apply, but will be required to fund the difference in tuition fees.
The studentship includes the following funding for 3 years:
*If you are considered an overseas student for fee purposes, you are welcome to apply for this studentship, however you will be required to cover the difference in tuition fees.
To apply you will need to complete an online application form. Please select the non-clinical PhD route.
The following supporting documents will be required as part of your application:
If you have a question about the project, or would like to arrange an informal discussion, please contact the supervisor directly (subject ‘PhD applicant’). For general enquiries about the PhD studentship or application process please contact bci-cancercourses@qmul.ac.uk
Successfully shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview at Barts Cancer Institute.