Intercalated PhD Students 2024 Cohort


Maja

Saki Okada

Project title - Cancer microfluidic modelling for geometric and therapeutic translation

Why did you choose this project and how will it impact cancer patients? 

The project aims to explore how a tumour’s physical structure affects drug transport and effectiveness, whilst also accounting for its metabolic heterogeneity, in oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC). Building off this, drug delivery regimens can be optimised to improve treatment response and patient outcomes. Better treatments are urgently needed for OAC patients as only 1 in 8 survive long-term.

 

I was drawn to this project as it allows me to explore a variety of techniques, from computationally modelling fluid dynamics to metabolomics, whilst collaborating with engineers in the process.


Interesting fact about yourself

In my free time, I enjoy drawing and doing boxing.

 

 

 

 

Lucy

Aria Torkpour

Project title - An artificial intelligence-based approach to identify immunologic predictors of outcome to immunotherapy in hepatocellular cancer using digital pathology

Why did you choose this project and how will it impact cancer patients?

 

I am fascinated by the potential impact of computer vision in pathology. I was drawn to this project because it bridges medicine's scientific, clinical and computational domains, translating to improved care for patients with early and advanced cancers.

 

 

Interesting fact about yourself

I am ambidextrous.

 

 

 

Jan

Nikolaos Zourdoumis

Project title - Identification of RNA-splicing derived neoantigens and development of CAR-T cell therapy in neuroblastoma

Why did you choose this project and how will it impact cancer patients?

Neuroblastoma is the most common peadiatric solid extracranial tumour. The poor prognosis of high-risk neuroblastoma demands the development of novel therapies. Indisulam has already proven to be effective against neuroblastoma in vivo. We aim to combine indisulam with a CAR-T cell immunotherapy employing a two-pronged approach against this lethal disease. This approach, which merges bioinformatics with immunotherapeutics at the cutting edge of cancer research, has inspired me to undertake this project.

 

 

Interesting fact about yourself

I enjoy cooking traditional Greek food, traveling, and playing D&D.

 

 

Yarden

Yarden Toiber Kent

Project title - Understanding the response to treatment in homologous recombination defective breast cancer by functional profiling of circulating tumour cell clusters

 

Why did you choose this project and how will it impact cancer patients? ?

I chose this project due to a personal connection to BRCA mutations in my family, which has always driven my interest in breast cancer research. This project allows me to work closely with patients and aims to uncover the mechanisms behind treatment resistance in BRCA-mutated breast cancer. By profiling circulating tumour cells, we hope to develop a tool for monitoring treatment responses, ultimately leading to more personalized and effective therapies for patients and improving their outcomes.

 

 

Interesting fact about yourself

I love animals and have always kept pets, including cats, hamsters, rabbits, fish and even a rat!