###Microfluidics-based solid cancer models as T-cell killing assays to transform healthcare manufacturing and analytical technologies
Project ID: 2228bd1018 (You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Manufacturing The Future
UCL Lead department: Biochemical Engineering
Lead Supervisor: Nicolas Szita
Project Summary:
• Why this research is important Despite advances in cancer therapy such as cancer cell therapy, cancer remains the world’s second leading cause of death. The concept of cancer cell therapy has potential for solid tumour treatment using γδ T cells, however the current 2D and 3D in vitro cancer models have limitations such as the lack of cell-to-cell and cell-to-extracellular matrix interaction, as well as the lack of blood vessels. These limitations result in a discrepancy between the pre-clinical study and the clinical study. Therefore, there is a dire need for reliable solid tumour model and cancer cell killing modalities.
• Who you will be working with You will be working in a vibrant group and a multi-disciplinary department with fully equipped laboratories for cell culture, bioprocessing, cell and molecular analysis, and microfluidics. You will also be working with a team of supervisors in cancer cells and T-cells, biotechnology and microfluidics. You will be integrated in a group of doctorate students and post-doctoral researchers which has a lot of expertise in laboratory-scale cell culture and cell analysis, incl novel analytical modalities such as Digital Holography Microscopy, spheroid formation, and cell culture (adherent and suspension) incl spheroids in microfluidic devices.
• What you will be doing You will be learning cancer and T-cell culture techniques, spheroid formation, and microfluidic device fabrication and cell culture in microfluidic devices. You will be creating the key step towards producing cells in a small continuous-flow system and testing the advances you made with cutting-edge analytical methods. You will be performing assays relevant for future cancer therapies.
• Who we are looking for A motivated, self-reliant engineer who already has some cell culture experience or is willing to learn corresponding techniques and wants to obtain a formation suitable for later academic career.