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Showing posts from May, 2017

Biomarker Data Analysis: Development of a Test for Prostate Cancer : PhD Studentship @ UEA, Norwich

Biomarker Data Analysis: Development of a Test for Prostate Cancer : PhD Studentship @ UEA, Norwich

Prostate cancer (PCa) is extremely common and has been detected in 30% of 40 year-old men, rising to 65% in 70 year olds. However, only a small proportion of these cancers will become clinically apparent and only ~20% of these will progress and kill the patient. Deciding which men to treat and which not is a major problem for patients and the NHS. Our research is designed to develop new clinical tests to aid in these decisions.

Due to the interconnected plumbing of the human urinary system, prostate biomarkers can be harvested from urine samples. We have just completed a 3-year Movember funded study run from UEA involving 12 collaborating teams in 7 different countries. This study looked at urine as a source of biomarkers for prostate cancer diagnosis and prognosis examining: Microvesicular-RNA expression, DNAmethylation, Proteins, and Mass Spectrometry, generating ~150,000 data points. Initial analysis has revealed PCa biomarkers that are over-expressed in aggressive disease. The PhD student will fully analyse this unique data to reveal the optimal combination of markers for diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapy. The data readout will be developed into a clinically implementable test to aid patient therapy.

This is a bioinformatics/data analysis based PhD. During the PhD you will gain knowledge on how to deal with big data, statistical analyses, machine learning and model building. You will be part of the Cancer Genetics team at the Norwich Medical School, which is an interdisciplinary team comprising a mixture of bioinformaticians and lab-based scientists. We have a broad interest in translational cancer based molecular studies with a particular focus on prostate cancer. Research includes urine based biomarker studies, whole genome sequencing studies, subtype detection studies and bacteria in cancer studies.

https://goo.gl/2IvDhU

Closing Date: 2nd June 2017
Starting Date: July 2017
https://goo.gl/2IvDhU

Hunting for Human Infectious Agents in Cancer using data from Genomics England’s 100,000 genome project : PhD...

Hunting for Human Infectious Agents in Cancer using data from Genomics England’s 100,000 genome project : PhD Studentship @ UEA, Norwich

Infectious agents, such as bacteria and viruses, are involved in the development of a variety of human cancers such as cervical, liver, stomach and bladder cancer. We hypothesise that other infectious agents are directly linked to cancer development, but as yet remain unidentified. We have developed an analytic pipeline (SEPATH) that identifies infectious agents in whole genome sequencing data. This pipeline is already in place, working and currently being improved. Through a competitive process we have been awarded access to apply SEPATH to the whole genome sequence data of 40,000 cancer genomes from Genomics England’s 100,000 Genome project. Genomics England’s 100,000 Genome project is a large-scale initiative, backed by the UK government, to sequence samples from 100,000 patients including 40,000 from a range of different cancer types. The aim of this PhD studentship is to run SEPATH on this data and search for new infectious agents associated with cancer in a range of different types. In addition links between cancer aggression and the structure of the microbiome will be examined as well as potentially identifying new bacteria linked to cancer.

This is a bioinformatics/data analysis based PhD. During the PhD you will gain knowledge on how to deal with big data, statistical analyses, machine learning and model building. You will be part of the Cancer Genetics team at the Norwich Medical School, which is an interdisciplinary team comprising a mixture of bioinformaticians and lab-based scientists. We have a broad interest in translational cancer based molecular studies with a particular focus on prostate cancer. Research includes urine based biomarker studies, whole genome sequencing studies, subtype detection studies and bacteria in cancer studies.

https://goo.gl/NRXn6K

Closing Date: 2nd June 2017
Starting Date: October 2017
https://goo.gl/NRXn6K