Dr Michelle Henderson, Dr Klaartje Somers
Applications accepted all year round
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
While survival rates for children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) overall are approaching 80%, for those who present with this disease as infants, prognosis is dismal despite intensified treatment. Consequently there is a need to develop therapeutic agents with better specificity towards this disease. Most cases of infant ALL have chromosomal translocations resulting in rearrangement of the MLL gene on chromosome 11q23. MLL gene rearrangements lead to the expression of aberrant MLL fusion proteins consisting of the amino terminal portion of MLL and the carboxy-terminal portion of one of a number of partner proteins.
The available project involve the following approaches:
1) small molecule drug screening to discover compounds with activity against MLL-rearranged leukaemia
2) characterisation of the mechanism of action of novel inhibitors utilising a range of biochemical, molecular and cellular biology approaches
3) development of in vitro “organoid” models and in vivo testing to prioritise compounds for pre-clinical and clinical development.
4) determination of potential mechanisms of resistance against novel compounds
PhD students at Children’s Cancer Institute are enrolled through the UNSW Faculty of Medicine, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, Centre for Childhood Cancer Research (Program code 1825, Childhood Cancer).
Funding Notes
Students must obtain a scholarship that will cover living expenses and tuition fees.
For information on the UNSW application process (including scholarships) visit https://research.unsw.edu.au/submit-application
Additional support
A top-up supplementary award of $6,000 per annum to students who have been awarded a competitive scholarship. This will be awarded to students where the scholarship is equivalent to an Australian Postgraduate Award (RPA) or University Postgraduate Award (UIPA).
The Josee Hilton PhD Excellence Award is a competitive top up scholarship of $10,000 per annum offered to our top ranking new PhD student annually.
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