Non-clinical PhD Previous Cohorts

 

2020 

 

Melina

Melina Beykou

Project title - Novel Bio-Chips for real-time detection of acidification in the tumour microenvironment 


What were you doing before you joined the CSC Programme?

BSc Biological Sciences (Immunology Hons) (Second year direct entry) from the University of Edinburgh. A number of internships in both wet lab and bioinformatics, including in Mark Woolhouse's lab at the University of Edinburgh during my BSc years.  Followed by an MSc in Bioinformatics and Theoretical Systems Biology at Imperial College London where my thesis was focused on modelling protein interactions involved in SARS-CoV-2 viral entry with Dr. Alessia David and Professor Michael Sternberg during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

What inspired you to choose this project?

I chose this project because of it has allowed me to work at the forefront of innovation in biomedical technologies to create early cancer diagnostics for patient benefit. It has provided me with a platform to use my previous experience in both wet and dry lab whilst growing my skillset and exposing me to novel engineering technologies

 

Interesting fact about yourself

I love Formula1 and hope they start using more biosensors for their drivers in the future.

 

 

Megan

Megan Morris

Project title - Combined functional MRI and super-resolution ultrasound for non-invasive monitoring of tumour blood delivery during breast cancer radiotherapy 


 

 

Megan

James Zhang

Project title - Synthetic lethality driven by N-myristoyltransferase inhibition: a convergence approach to target MYCN-driven childhood cancers 


What were you doing before you joined the CSC Programme?

I was finishing my Masters degree in Chemistry in the Balasubramanian lab.

 

What inspired you to choose this project?

I chose this project because it gave me the opportunity to expand my skills beyond chemistry and because of its translational applications.

 

Interesting fact about yourself

I once won a TV (first prize!) in a raffle.

 

 

Megan

Gwen O'Driscoll

Project title - Engineering MRI-trackable extracellular vesicles to study breast cancer metastasis organotropism


What were you doing before you joined the CSC Programme?

Before starting my PhD I was a research scientist working at AstraZeneca’s Swedish R&D site in Gothenburg. Here I helped develop imaging cell assays to screen nanomedicines (LNPs and extracellular vesicles). I also completed a project in the Data Science & Bioinformatics team, where I analysed patient NGS data and created a pipeline for analysing ribosome sequencing data.

 

What inspired you to choose this project?

I was excited by the opportunity to combine nanoparticle engineering with MRI (an area that was new toF me) to produce a tool that helps untangle the mechanism underlying breast cancer metastasis.

 

Interesting fact about yourself

My Imperial lab moved to Oxford during the final year of my PhD, so this project was carried out across 3 research institutes!

 

 

CSC Logo

Federica Talamona

Project title - New formulations of anti-cancer drugs for targeted treatment of triple negative breast cancer


 

 

2019 

 

Simran

Simran Kukran

Project title - Development of MRI brain tumour fingerprinting for clinical assessment of brain tumour biology


 

 

Julia

Julia Perea Paizal 

Project title - Biomechanical activation of pro-metastatic programs in circulating tumour cells by vasculature constriction forces

What were you doing before you joined the CSC Programme?

Master in Biomedical Engineering: Bionanotechnology & Advanced Biomanufacturing at the University of Twente (The Netherlands)

 

What inspired you to choose this project?

I selected this project because it merged engineering and biology, the two disciplines I am interested in, ultimately aiming to improve our understanding of cancer metastasis. Specifically, it involved engineering vascular networks using organ-on-a-chip technologies to gain insights into the behavior of circulating tumor cells.

 

Interesting fact about yourself

Can’t read maps but will always find my way back


 

 

Marco

Marco Barbone 

Project title - Enabling real-time adaptive radiotherapy by leveraging accelerators to improve the performance of MRI image reconstruction algorithms and dose planning methods

 

 

Convergence Science Centre Logo

Gitanjali Sharma 

Project title - Microfluidic Based Reactions with [18F]Fluoroform: A Toolbox for Next Generation 18F-Radiolabelled Medicinal Chemistry Compounds

 

 

Convergence Science Centre Logo

Jehanne Hassan  

Project title - Understanding systems and molecular mechanisms underlying cancer immunotherapy for the development of precision immunotherapy with informed strategies

 

 

Convergence Science Centre Logo

Nicol Matthews   

Project title - Investigating the roles of the proteasome vs. autophagy, two major protein degradation pathways, in degradation and stabilisation of the proteome of ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC)

 

 

2018

 

Convergence Science Centre Logo

Daniel Boland

Project title - Nanotopographical effects on transcriptional regulation and nuclear morphology to inform strategies against cancer

 

 

Convergence Science Centre Logo

Ana Losada de la Lastra 

Project title - A chemical proteomic platform to uncover the impact of dynamic protein S-acylation in cancer

 

 

Convergence Science Centre Logo

George West

Project title - Ultrasound backscatter assessment of tumour response to radiotherapy using finite element model-based attenuation and diffraction corrections

 

 

Dani

Dani Chattenton

Project title - Short-pulse ultrasound delivery of chemotherapeutic agents across the blood-brain barrier for the treatment of paediatric high grade glioma