LOCATIONS:

Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM), Churchill Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LE

DPhil Start date

October 2019

PROJECT TITLE

Targeting bromodomain and extra-terminal domain inhibition as a novel therapy for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours

SUPERVISORS

Professor Rajesh Thakker, Professor Freddie Hamdy, Professor Duncan Richards and Dr Kate Lines

I studied medicine at Imperial College London, where I graduated with a BSc in Medical Sciences (First-Class Honours) in 2010 and MBBS (with Distinction) in 2012. I subsequently completed the Foundation Programme at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital in London and obtained Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (MRCS) in 2014. After this, I was accepted into the general surgery residency training programme at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. During my third year of residency, I was awarded a Clarendon Scholarship to Trinity College, where I completed an MSc in Surgical Science and Practice (with Distinction) in 2019. I was subsequently awarded a Medical Sciences Graduate Scholarship to read for a DPhil in Surgical Sciences as well as funding from the Climax Centre for Clinical Therapeutics at St Hilda's College. My clinical interests are in diseases of the thyroid, parathyroids, adrenal glands and endocrine pancreas. In the future, I intend to pursue a career in academic endocrine surgery. 

My DPhil studies are focused on novel epigenetic therapies for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNETs). PNETs develop in the hormone-producing cells of the pancreas. Although surgical resection offers the best chance of cure; this is often not possible as >50% of patients present with advanced disease at initial diagnosis. Current medical therapies are ineffective in preventing tumour progression, leading to 10-year survival rates of <40%. Therefore, there is a clinically unmet need for better treatments for patients with these tumours. The aim of my research is to investigate bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) protein inhibition as a novel therapeutic approach for PNETs.