The following is written by Rita Pereira, the second Rudy A Menon Foundation funded PhD student working at the ICR.
Over the last 6-months, I have been progressing through the initial phases of my project. We have started performing bioinformatics analysis that aims to characterise EGFR-altered tumours, with a focus on methylation groups that seem to be enriched for GC samples. Methylation is a mechanism that cells use to control gene expression – whether genes are turned ‘on’ or ‘off’. In parallel, since one of the main milestones of the project is produce new models of the disease, I have been working on creating and validating DNA that will induce tumour formation in mice.
Another big achievement over the last 6-months was the establishment of seven new EGFR-altered patient-derived cell lines and one subsequent in vivo model, with the other six lines now being tested to see if they can also be used as in vivo models. This was made possible by our relation with the Royal Marsden Hospital as well as the international collaborations that we have established over the years.
All this work was included in my transfer viva report, an assessment that all PhD students undergo at the ICR 9 months into their projects. This included a presentation and a panel discussion to evaluate the project and future goals, but also my understanding of the project. I’m happy to report that I have passed this assessment and was given a score of Excellent. I was also given valuable input on certain areas of the project that will help me move forward.
that I have passed my transfer viva, I will focus on troubleshooting some of the DNA that was giving suboptimal results and move on to the in vivo work and generation of new models.
I am so grateful to The Rudy A Menon Foundation for your support and encouragement. Thank you for making this progress possible. I look forward to keeping you updated about further advances in the lab.
© John Angerson.ICR’
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