Validation of novel combination treatments in lung cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths and the most common cancer in men and the 2nd most common cancer in women worldwide. Researching new targets in lung cancer is imperative in the quest for more effective therapies, personalized treatment strategies and ultimately, improved patient survival.

Our lab has combined stated-of-the-art transcriptomics, metabolomics and CRISPR drop-off screens in lung cancer models and identified novel synthetic vulnerabilities that can be targeted to specifically kill lung cancer cells. Importantly, these pathways can be targeted in vivo either pharmacologically or with dietary approaches, providing exciting novel approaches with great potential to be translated to the clinic.

This PhD project will characterise these new approaches and will generate novel patient derived lung cancer models to test them. The lab has strong links with lung cancer pathologists and surgeons and a well-stablished pipeline to obtain samples from patients. The project will provide outstanding training in the latest methods to study lung cancer biology and to generate patient-derived cancer models.

For informal enquiries about the project, contact Dr Laureano de la Vega, l.delavega@dundee.ac.uk

For general enquiries about the University of Dundee, contact doctoralacademy@dundee.ac.uk

Our research community thrives on the diversity of students and staff which helps to make the University of Dundee a UK university of choice for postgraduate research. We welcome applications from all talented individuals and are committed to widening access to those who have the ability and potential to benefit from higher education.

QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants must have obtained, or expect to obtain, a UK honours degree at 2.1 or above (or equivalent for non-UK qualifications), and/or a Masters degree in a relevant discipline. For international qualifications, please see equivalent entry requirements here: www.dundee.ac.uk/study/international/country/.

English language requirement: IELTS (Academic) overall score must be at least 6.5 (with not less than 5.5 in reading, listening, speaking and 6.0 in writing). The University of Dundee accepts a variety of equivalent qualifications and alternative ways to demonstrate language proficiency; please see full details of the University’s English language requirements here: www.dundee.ac.uk/guides/english-language-requirements.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Step 1: Email Dr Laureano de la Vega, l.delavega@dundee.ac.uk  to (1) send a copy of your CV and (2) discuss your potential application and any practicalities (e.g. suitable start date).

Step 2: After discussion with Dr de la Vega, l.delavega@dundee.ac.uk, formal applications can be made via our direct application system. When applying, please follow the instructions below:

Candidates must apply for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Medicine (3 year) using our direct application system:

Please select the study mode (full-time/part-time) and start date agreed with the lead supervisor.

In the Research Proposal section, please:

-         Enter the lead supervisor’s name in the ‘proposed supervisor’ box

-         Enter the project title listed at the top of this page in the ‘proposed project title’ box

In the ‘personal statement’ section, please outline your suitability for the project selected.