ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½

My route into research began a long way from a lab, in the rural setting of Devon in the southwest of the UK. I have always had a curiosity for the natural world around me. But as a teenager, I lost my father to a neurological disease and a great friend to an accident. While inescapably tragic, these experiences impressed upon me the absolute importance of health and motivated me to enter medical research. After completing my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at UCL, I came to ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ to pursue a PhD in cancer research with Professor Rahul Roychoudhuri in the Department of Pathology. Here, we looked at how the immune system is suppressed in cancer and how we can revitalise it to help the body eliminate this disease. 

What is your area of research focussing on and why is it important?

In your body, you have specialised immune cells called T cells that are able to recognise and kill cancer when it arises. Cancers, however, can evolve ways to undermine or avoid this immune elimination. Breakthroughs in immunotherapy in the last two decades have revolutionised our treatment of cancer, and these have been primarily focused on revitalising the ability of a patient’s own T cells to kill cancer cells. Responses to these treatments, however, are not seen in all patients, likely due to an incomplete understanding of the many ways cancers can avoid immune elimination. In our study, we identify a new approach cancers can develop to subvert the immune system. This, rather surprisingly, involves cancers releasing antioxidant proteins into their environments to suppress local T cell responses. This research, published in the journal Science, has therefore highlighted a new axis of immune regulation in the tumour which we hope will inform the development of new cancer drugs. 

What are the next steps in your research?

We are currently looking at ways to therapeutically target these antioxidants in the cancer environment. The far-reaching hope is that we can identify new drugs for patients and expand the successes of immunotherapy. This research has also highlighted an underexplored axis of immune regulation, and I believe there are interesting discoveries to be made in how antioxidant or pro-oxidant environments can shape immune responses in other contexts, such as autoimmunity and infection.

What has your academic experience been like so far? 

I have felt very fortunate to have been at ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ and the Department of Pathology. They have provided safe and supportive environments for a fledgling academic such as myself. Moreover, they have been filled with curious and motivated people at the start of their research journeys. The conversations had and friendships formed during this time can be truly life-changing, and I would encourage anyone to join and get stuck in as much as they can. 

Additionally, the ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½-Pathology studentship has been essential in supporting my academic work and development as a researcher. The support I have received has enabled me to come to Cambridge, to work for inspiring people, and to focus wholeheartedly on the research that is important to me and, I hope, the field. Being awarded this studentship has redirected my life and opened doors for exciting new opportunities. I am extremely grateful for being a recipient. 

Any words of wisdom or tips for postgrad applicants or incoming students?

One piece of advice that was passed down to me when I started, and that I have found very helpful, is to celebrate all the small wins. A PhD is long, and the result you are really hoping for may be years away. If that is the only thing you let yourself count as progress, then almost all of your time will feel like failure. So, it is important to be generous about what you count as a win, and to celebrate it. Even acknowledging what not to do next time is progress, and it is far more of the job than anyone tells you at the start!

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