About the Project
Melanoma is a deadly cancer, which accounts for the majority of skin cancer related deaths. Recent development of immunotherapies has had a major impact in the treatment of advanced melanoma. Immune checkpoints allow cancer cells to evade the host immune system. By blocking immune checkpoints with monoclonal antibodies, a proportion of patients gain significant survival benefit. The interaction between the programmed death 1 (PD-1) receptor, and its ligand PD-L1, is one of the most important and well-characterised immune checkpoints. Currently, two antibodies (nivolumab, pembrolizumab) that target PD-1 are approved in NZ for treating melanoma. However, while these therapies can be very effective, a relatively high proportion of melanoma patients have little or no response to the immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment. Predicting which melanoma patients will respond to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment is presently hampered by a lack of understanding of the underlying biology, although recent research, including our own, has identified that epigenetic factors play an important role.
This project will be based on a molecular and bioinformatics analysis of tumour and blood tissue from melanoma patients who have responded, or not, to immunotherapy. The experimental work will involve DNA methylation analysis, CRISPR modification and a range of molecular and cellular techniques, including bioinformatics.
The successful candidate will have obtained a BSc(hons), BBioMedSci(hons) or MSc with high academic excellence. A formal undergraduate education, which includes one or more of the following subject areas, would be essential; biochemistry, genetics/epigenetics, bioinformatics and/or molecular biology. Please apply with your CV (including contact details of three academic references) and a single PDF containing your academic transcript.
For further information email Prof Mike Eccles or Dr Aniruddha Chatterjee via the following contact address. Applications close on 20th June, 2019.
Dr Aniruddha Chatterjee
Department of Pathology
University of Otago
Dunedin
New Zealand
Phone: +64 3 479 7172
[Email Address Removed]
Funding Notes
This PhD project can be directly funded from our research grant. However, the successful applicant will be chosen based on their academic merit, and will be encouraged to apply for a highly competitive University of Otago PhD scholarship, which will be open to applicants with sufficiently high academic grades.
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