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A postgraduate research opportunity at the University of Otago.

Details

Close date
No date set
Academic background
Health Sciences, Sciences
Host campus
Dunedin
Qualification
Honours
Department
Pathology (Dunedin)
Supervisor
Dr Sunali Mehta, Dr Debina Sarkar

Overview

Advances in cancer immunotherapy have dramatically changed the treatment landscape for cancer patients. However, a majority of patients treated with immunotherapy are either primary non-responders or eventually develop immune-refractory progressive disease and require additional therapy.

Ferroptosis is a novel mode of cell death that refers to iron-dependent regulatory death resulting from lipid peroxidation and consequent cytomembrane rupture.

Interestingly, ferroptotic tumour death can lead to improved antigen presentation which in turn can enhance anti-tumour immunity. As such studies have indicated that induction of ferroptosis can improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy in cancers.

The student project will involve the use of a panel of ferroptosis inducers, in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer cells. The project will involve, transwell co-culture experiments, flow cytometry panels and investigate ferroptosis markers using targeted next gen sequencing and ddPCR.

Findings from this study will indicate the efficacy of using a combination strategy of ferroptosis inducers along with immunotherapy drugs to improve treatment outcomes in cancer.

Dr Sunali Mehta

Email
sunali.mehta@otago.ac.nz
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