lOCATION:

John Radcliffe Hospital, Level 6, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU

Dr Jens Rittscher, Big Data Institute, Oxford

Dr Georg Holländer, WIMM, Oxford

Dr Richard Bryant, Oncology, Oxford

Dr Andrea Alimonti, Bellinzona CH

Dr Stephen Lockett, NCI, Frederick USA

My research interests are focussed around angiogenesis, especially tumour angiogenesis, which is the growth of blood vessels that sustain the cancer. Tumour blood vessels are part of the wider tumour microenvironment of many different cell types and structural elements that make up the tumour mass.

In recent years, cancer research deflected from mainly studying cancer cells only and shifted attention to cell types that may or may not aide the cancer to thrive. The heart of my current project is the mapping of the tumour microenvironment of prostate cancer. I am looking for recurring cell and architectural pattern in the tissues that are yet unknown. I achieve this by employing multiplex microscopy called CODEX, which allows me to image many protein cell markers on a single slice of tissue. Downstream analysis locates the coordinates for each cell and their neighbours and the relation between them.

For the moment, I am studying prostate cancer in mouse models and the next step is the spatial analysis of human samples. I believe that if I draw the cellular landscape the tumour will become readable for physicians and help them navigating the course of treatment for their patients, just like a hiker would read a map for orientation.

The project is highly interdisciplinary and profits from an amalgam of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and aims.

This project is supported by a grant from the Rosetree Foundation