Engineering and validating proton beam therapy on advanced pancreatic cancer human tissue mimetics

Project ID: 2228cd1345 (You will need this ID for your application)

UCL Lead department: Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences

Project Summary:

Research importance: Recent clinical trials show that proton and ion beam radiation has great potential as an alternative radiotherapy treatment for pancreatic cancer (a deadly disease). Protons/ion beams deposit most of the radiation dose locally in the tumour, with greater spatial targeting compared to photons (X-rays), whilst limiting the dose to the surrounding healthy tissues. However, the benefits of this technology have not been clearly shown to date. The aim of this multidisciplinary project is to interrogate either photon or proton effects in advanced biomaterial based pancreatic cancer 3D (lab) models, and titrate delivery measured against biological outcomes. More specifically, proton and photon therapy regimes will be applied on biomaterial assisted (polymeric scaffolds surface modified with matrix proteins or peptides) pancreatic cancer multicellular models (containing cancer, endothelial, activated stellate and immune cells) of various characteristics, i.e., porosity, stiffness, biochemical composition, fibrotic levels, will be developed and characterised with advanced imaging and molecular biology techniques. Such systematic approach will shed light on how the above tissue level properties could affect the efficiency of proton therapy, therefore, tailoring treatment design to spatial tumour tissue characteristics. Who you will be working with/what you will be doing: You will be joining the group of Dr Eirini Velliou at the Centre for 3D Models of Health and Disease. You will be working in a multidisciplinary environment, fabricating and characterising advanced cancer 3D models, with access to cutting edge facilities for biomaterial fabrication, tissue culturing, microscopy/imaging, molecular biology and material characterisation. Furthermore, you will be working with Prof Andrew Nisbet (Biomedical Engineering), accessing clinical irradiation facilities and the novel proton accelerator at UCLH. Who we are looking for: We are looking for a highly motivated individual to join our team. Ideal candidate should have a background on bioengineering, cancer biology, medical physics, biomaterials or related discipline.