Prostate cancer (PC) accounts for 375,000 deaths per year worldwide. Hormone therapy is the mainstay treatment for advanced PC but not all patients show durable responses, with many becoming resistant to radiotherapy. Hence, there is an urgent need to provide more effective treatments for metastatic disease.
In advanced PC, DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) expression is elevated and correlates with metastatic spread. As such, we propose to design and synthesise DNA-PK PROTACs to evaluate DNA-PK degradation as a potential treatment in advanced PC. The student will synthesise DNA-PK PROTACs that retain kinase domain binding capacity based on known DNA-PK inhibitors. Optimisation of the linkers, DNA-PK inhibitors and E3 ligands will bring chemical diversity to the compound library prior to biological evaluation.
This studentship is part of the Molecular Sciences for Medicine (MoSMed) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT). Further MoSMed CDT studentships are available here.
Sponsor
Eligibility Criteria
Please see the MoSMed website for further details regarding academic eligibility.
Home and international applicants (inc. EU) are welcome to apply and if successful will receive a full studentship. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.
International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme.
How to apply
Please apply through Newcastle University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal.
Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.
Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:
- search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8207F
- select ‘PhD Molecular Sciences for Medicine (SNES)' as the programme of study
You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section:
- a ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly into the application form. Please include the full title of the studentship, the studentship code (mos23_04), and how your interests/experience relate to the project.
- the relevant studentship code (mos23_04) in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field. If you wish to apply for additional studentships, please make sure to add the relevant studentship reference each time, before submitting each separate application. For example, you may wish to apply for mos23_03 AND mos23_04. You must include the relevant code for your application to be considered.
- when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of this project. You do not need to upload a research proposal.
- An up to date CV.
- Please upload all documents in PDF format.
If you are applying for more than one MoSMed CDT studentship, please read the guidance on applying for multiple studentships before starting your applications.
Contact Details
Dr Celine Cano [Email Address Removed]
Continue with Facebook
