Research

 

One haematology trainee's out-of-programme research experience...

 

I have been lucky enough to obtain a Myeloma UK Fellowship to help advance my career in academic haematology.  This initially takes the form of a 3 year PhD project, funded through a unique partnership between Myeloma UK and the Ken and Lynne Morrison Charitable Trust.

 

Title

“Defining the utility and suitability of Immune Diversity Genotyping (IDG) in the setting of multiple myeloma: the early development of immune biomarker determination.”

 

Project Summary
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a terminally differentiated B cell malignancy characterized by a monoclonal accumulation of plasma cells in the marrow cavity, associated with humoral and cellular immune dysfunction. There has been a significant expansion in new biological therapies in the management of myeloma, more recently aiming to augment the host immune system to produce an anti-myeloma effect. The use of such immunotherapy strategies need to have a suitable assessment tool to define efficacy but also we need to define which patients may benefit the most. There exists an unmet need for immune biomarker discover research strategies in this rapidly evolving arena. This study

 will systematically examine the immune repertoire using next generation sequencing to establish immune diversity genotyping in an age-related cohort analysis, in patients with MGUS and MM and to define its utility in the context of anti-myeloma therapeutic interventions, including immunotherapy. 

 

 

Project Benefits

This project offers training and experience in a fast evolving area of translational precision medicine with the potential to impact on patient treatment selection and outcome prediction. The project will facilitate training in molecular and cellular immunology, bio-informatics and human systems biology modelling, alongside key laboratory-based techniques such as flow cytometry, cell selection, nucleic acid preparation and utilisation and next generation sequencing-based technologies.