Functionalized nanoparticles for experimental colorectal cancer therapy (R230124)

Basis: Full Time Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Friday 30 June 2023 Reference: R230124 Release Date: Tuesday 30 May 2023

Functionalized nanoparticles for experimental colorectal cancer therapy

Department: College of Health and Life Sciences

Contract Type: Fixed Term

Basis: Full Time

Closing Date: 30th June 2023 23:59 GMT

Supervisory Team:

Principal supervisor: Dr Boris Kysela

Associate supervisors: Dr Theo Kantidakis

Dr Deepak Singh-Ranger (clinical)

Applications are invited for a three-year Postgraduate studentship, supported by the College of Health and Life Sciences, at Aston University.

The position is available to start in October 2023

Financial Support

This studentship includes a fee bursary to cover the home/EU fees rate, plus a maintenance allowance of £18,622 in 2023/4.

Overseas Applicants

Overseas applicants may apply for this studentship but will need to pay the difference between the ‘Home' and the ‘Overseas' tuition fees. Currently the difference between ‘Home' and the ‘Overseas' tuition fees is £14,338 in 2023/4. As part of the application, you will be required to confirm that you have applied for or secured this additional funding. The maintenance allowance cannot be used to cover the tuition fees.

Background to the Project

Colon cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies representing 11% of all new cases of cancer worldwide in adults and is the third largest cause of cancer deaths. The standard therapy comprises of surgery combined with chemotherapy. Since 1957, the most common drug in the treatment of colon cancer is 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), a heterocyclic aromatic compound (an analogue of uracil), that interferes with the metabolism of nucleosides and, when incorporated into DNA and RNA, leads to cytotoxicity and cell death. Nevertheless, the overall response rate for the advanced colorectal cancer to 5-FU alone is only 10-15% and even in combination with other anti-tumour (mostly cis-Pt derivatives), less than a half of the tumours respond to the therapy, due to rapid development of drug resistance. Therefore, new strategies for therapy and resistance reversal are urgently needed. Our group have already developed several new designs of functionalized precious metal nanoparticles with a potential to increase the dose efficacy of therapeutic DNA damaging agents by attenuating genome stability maintenance mechanisms in targeted cells. The main objective of this project will be development of functionalized nano constructs for targeting the most important DNA repair pathways for resistance development and treatment efficiency of chemotherapeutics used in colon cancer treatment.

You will contribute to research on synthesis, functional characterization and pre-clinical applications of these novel nano constructs and to elucidation of molecular mechanisms involved in their action. Practically, you will gain experience in multiple experimental methods in cancer cell and molecular biology, functional proteomics and training in statistical analytical methods, critical data interpretation and presentation.

The successful candidate will be supervised by internationally recognized experts in the fields of genome damage responses, DNA repair and colorectal cancer and will have an exciting opportunity to join an international interdisciplinary effort linking academia and translational clinical research. We are looking for a highly motivated and hard-working individual with excellent academic and problem-solving abilities who wants to take an active part in cutting-edge research addressing a significant and constantly growing clinical need.

Person Specification

The successful applicant should have been awarded, or expect to achieve, a Masters degree in a relevant subject with a 60% or higher weighted average, and/or a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or an equivalent qualification from an overseas institution) in Cell/Molecular Biology/Genetics.

Contact information

Please contact Dr Boris Kysela [email protected] for questions about the project.

Submitting an application

As part of the application, you will need to supply:

The application must be accompanied by a “research proposal” statement. An original proposal is not required as the initial scope of the project has been defined, candidates should take this opportunity to detail how their knowledge and experience will benefit the project and should also be accompanied by a brief review of relevant research literature.

Details of how to submit your application, and the necessary supporting documents can be found here.

Please select “Research Health Sciences” from the application form options.

Please include the supervisor's name, project title and project reference in your Personal Statement.

If you require further information about the application process, please contact the Postgraduate Admissions team at [email protected]