Research

Cancer, In-vitro Models, Metastasis, Organ-on-a-Chip, Peptide Hydrogels, Bioengineering.

Underpinning Bioengineering, Cancer Models

PhD Title

Organ-on-a-chip model to probe key bottlenecks in tumour progression.

Interests

My PhD project focuses on developing advanced in vitro models to investigate how oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) develops, progresses and spreads to the lymph nodes.

Understanding the cellular changes that drive cancer progression is essential for identifying new therapeutic targets. However, existing models often struggle to accurately recreate the complexity of human tissues while allowing detailed observation of dynamic cellular processes.

I am developing three complementary models: a healthy oral mucosa model to investigate tumour initiation, a primary OSCC model to study interactions between cancer, immune and stromal cells, and a tuneable peptide hydrogel to recreate aspects of lymph node anatomy and investigate metastatic colonisation.

These models will be integrated into the Quasi-Vivo® QV1200 system, through my collaboration with and support from Kirkstall. The system enables continuous fluid perfusion and high-resolution imaging, allowing us to investigate the dynamic cellular processes driving cancer progression and metastasis.