Functional genomics and system biology approaches to define radiation response signatures

Precision medicine holds the promise that the treatment of cancer will be based on individual assessment of risk and selection of optimal therapy. On the other hand, there is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that molecular and genomic differences can affect the response to radiation, and thus the outcome of therapy.
The aim of this project is to elucidate the pathways affecting the response to radiation in different cancer types and under different tumor microenvironmental conditions, and to question how these pathways might be altered with drug combinations to improve efficacy of radiotherapy.
The project will generate high-throughput genomics and transcriptomics data in a panel of cancer cell lines, and will analyze data from in-vivo models and samples from large clinical cohorts. Using advanced computational and bioinformatics approaches developed in our lab [see e.g. 1, 2] we will integrate these data, and we will investigate how the genetic and molecular characteristics of the cancer and its surrounding microenvironment determine the response to radiation.

Students are strongly advised to contact their prospective supervisor before applying to discuss their interest in the group’s research. Supervisor contact details can be found on their website profile page.