MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Hijacking Hedgehog: identifying targetable pathways co-opted by Human Papillomavirus in cervical cancer

Cancers associated with infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV) are a leading cause of death in women. The majority of HPV-driven disease impacts low to middle income countries and the global south. Whilst the link between HPV infection and cancer is widely acknowledged, the mechanisms of HPV-driven transformation are not fully understood. We seek a talented and highly motivated student to join our groups to help us explore the contribution of the Hedgehog pathway to transformation in cervical cancers and to determine if Hedgehog co-operates with the classical oncogene STAT3 in driving cervical cancer cell growth and survival. You will join the Macdonald group (@OncoVirus_Leeds), which is acknowledged as a world leader in the study of cell signalling and HPV-driven diseases. You will be co-supervised by Riobo-Del Galdo (@thehedgehoglab), a leading researcher in Hedgehog signalling. Between these groups you will be given all of the support necessary to succeed in your project to understand how Hedgehog contributes to HPV-driven cancer. You will be trained in the culture of primary and cancer cells, immunoblotting, quantitative PCR, next generation sequencing, a broad range of cancer assays, and the biochemical analysis of protein complexes. With your third supervisor, Samson, you will undertake in vivo confirmation of results obtained in cell culture. Together, these cutting edge methodologies will equip you for an internationally competitive career in cancer biology research.

You will be based in newly refurbished labs shared by researchers investigating virus-driven diseases and with access to world-class research facilities in bio-imaging and protein biochemistry. Your supervisory team has extensive experience of successfully supervising PhD students to completion. Students from these groups have won awards and prizes for their research (e.g. Young Microbiologist of the Year and EMBO Fellowship) and are pursuing successful post-graduate careers in science and beyond. We publish frequently and in high impact journals, with many of these publications led by our post-graduate researchers (see references). Together, we pride ourselves on creating an environment that allows our students to prosper. 

Benefits of being in the DiMeN DTP:

This project is part of the Discovery Medicine North Doctoral Training Partnership (DiMeN DTP), a diverse community of PhD students across the North of England researching the major health problems facing the world today. Our partner institutions (Universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, York and Sheffield) are internationally recognised as centres of research excellence and can offer you access to state-of the-art facilities to deliver high impact research.

We are very proud of our student-centred ethos and committed to supporting you throughout your PhD. As part of the DTP, we offer bespoke training in key skills sought after in early career researchers, as well as opportunities to broaden your career horizons in a range of non-academic sectors.

Being funded by the MRC means you can access additional funding for research placements, international training opportunities or internships in science policy, science communication and beyond. See how our current DiMeN students have benefited from this funding here: http://www.dimen.org.uk/overview/student-profiles/flexible-supplement-awards

Further information on the programme and how to apply can be found on our website:

http://www.dimen.org.uk/how-to-apply/application-overview