PhD student Hannah Shailes from Barts Cancer Centre this week won a prize from the Rosetrees Trust for the best presentation of her work on the APC gene in bowel cancer.
The prize was awarded to Hannah by Richard Ross, the Chairman of the Rosetrees Trust which funds the best in medical research around the UK.
Hannah’s PhD is being funded by Bowel & Cancer Research with support from the Rosetrees Trust. By investing in PhDs our joint aim is to encourage the next generation of experts in bowel research.
Hannah is investigating the link between mutations in the APC gene and the development of bowel cancer. In addition to being the key gene in the familial form of bowel cancer, the APC gene is mutated in around 80% of all bowel cancer cases. It is therefore a key genetic target for the development of new therapies.
Hannah has hypothesised that a new concept in cancer therapy known as synthetic lethality may provide a key to stopping the progression of bowel cancer. The process of synthetic lethality happens when a second gene silenced together with the target gene (in this case APC) causes a cell to die.
Learn more here >> http://www.bowelcancerresearch.org/blog/phd-hannah-wins-rosetrees-prize/