Prof Pam Pollock
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
The Pollock cancer laboratory is a leading laboratory in Australia studying endometrial (uterine) cancer. It has a focus on FGFR2 and evaluating various strategies to develop personalized anti-cancer therapies for cancer patients with FGFR activation. The laboratory has expertise across a range of areas including basic science (e.g. how novel mutations affect receptor function), preclinical studies (which PI3K/FGFR inhibitor shows the highest efficacy in vitro and in vivo) and translational work on clinical trial patient samples (e.g. FGFR2 mutations predict poor prognosis). The laboratory has published in numerous high quality journals including Nature, Cancer Research, Oncogene and Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=RkXXXrEAAAAJ&hl=en)
The lab is also pursuing other molecular therapeutic targets in order to develop personalized cancer treatments in different molecular subtypes of endometrial cancer. To this end it has developed a panel of novel patient derived xenograft (PDX) models of endometrial cancer. These novel PDX models have been genomically characterized and the lab is currently optimizing the testing of traditional chemotherapies and molecular targeted therapies in organoids derived from these models.
There are several options available for this PhD project but in general it involves genomic and/or phospho-proteomic characterization of these uterine organoid cultures, testing of single and dual anti-cancer therapies in 3D organoids followed by in vivo validation studies in immunocompromised or humanized NSG mice. It is expected that some mechanistic functional studies using lentiviral shRNA and/or CRISPR/cas9 will be performed to validate the proposed mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to one or more class of drugs within this PhD project.
Applicant Selection Criteria
We are seeking candidates from Australia and overseas who satisfy the following selection criteria:
• A biomedical sciences degree (B.Sc) with an excellent GPA.
• Evidence of academic English proficiency (TOEFL or IELTs) within last two years. Cut-off for QUT is average above 6.5 for
academic IELTS and no single score below 6
• A First class Honours degree in cancer cell biology, molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, immunology or a related discipline
OR a MSC with a thesis comprising more than 25% of the credit points in the MSc degree
OR experience in biomedical Sciences evidenced by at least one first author publication in a peer-reviewed international journal or
multiple middle author publications in peer-reviewed international journals
• Excellent communication skills in English (speaking and writing) Current IELTS or TOEFFL assessment
• Ability to work independently and within a team
• Highly motivated and with a commitment to conduct high quality research
• Attention to detail and an ability to think laterally
• Demonstrated organisational ability and good record-keeping skills
• Experience in tissue culture and/or in vivo drug testing in cancer models is desirable
Submission
Please include your resume, your academic transcript, a cover letter describing why you are interested in pursuing postgraduate studies in this area and a list of three potential referees. Please send application by September 14th, 2018 to [Email Address Removed]. Dr Pollock will then contact a short list of candidates and work with the identified candidate/s to complete their applications to QUT by the Sept 30 deadline.
Research Environment.
A/Prof Pollocks laboratory is part of the School of Biomedical Sciences within the Faculty of Health at QUT. Her academic profile can be viewed here – https://staff.qut.edu.au/staff/pollockp/
The lab is physically based within the state-of-the-art Translational Research Institute on the PA hospital campus - https://www.tri.edu.au.
The TRI is located in an inner city suburb of Brisbane Australia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane
Brisbane is a subtropical international city, with a very strong biomedical science community. Brisbane has excellent public transport, and is very close to coastal attractions such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Coast,_Queensland and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Coast,_Queensland
Funding Notes
The QUT PhD entrance requirements are outlined here https://www.qut.edu.au/study/phds-and-research-degrees. QUT has one annual scholarship round which closes on September 30 as detailed here https://www.qut.edu.au/research-all/scholarships-grants-and-funding/annual-scholarship-round. Successful applicants must accept and commence within 6 months of receiving an award.
• Remuneration The stipend is equivalent to the APA rate, $27,084 per annum (2018 rate, indexed annually) with the possibility of top-ups for suitable candidates. The scholarship will be for three years with the possibility of a six (6)-month extension and is subject to the QUT Research Scholarship General Conditions. University fees are often waived for those students who successfully obtain a scholarship.
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