DPHIL START DATE

4 October 2021

PROJECT TITLE

Investigating Somatic Mutational Drivers of Immunogenicity in Colon Cancer

SUPERVISOR

Professor Simon Buczacki

I am a second year DPhil Cancer Science student working within the Department of Oncology and affiliated with the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences. As a member of Professor Simon Buczacki's Tumour Evolution and Cell Identity research group, my work explores the tumour immune-microenvironment in Colon Cancer and the factors influencing tumour immunogenicity irrespective of mutational load. Currently I am employing R-programming to analyse TCGA-data, with the eventual goal of performing CRISPR gene-editing of patient-derived organoids and co-culturing with autologous T-cells.

I graduated from the University of Birmingham with a First Class BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science. A notable experience involved a summer placement at Tongji Medical College in Wuhan, China, investigating satiety regulation in Drosophila melanogaster. However, it was during my dissertation research project where my aspirations for Colorectal Cancer (CRC) research strengthened, which involved investigating patient-derived CRC-associated fibroblasts and their response to IL-6 in Prof Beggs’ research group. Subsequently I studied MSc Cancer at University College London and conducted a computational research project at the Cancer Genome Evolution Group analysing structural variation in the HCT116 cell line by long-read sequencing, a phenomenon historically elusive due to technological barriers with short-read sequencing. Recognising my work, I was subsequently awarded the Dean’s Research Prize Award and Dean’s List Award.