Molecular Vulnerabilities in Breast Cancer: From Primary Tumours to Bone Metastasis
Dr Kirsteen Campbell, Prof Karen Blyth, Dr Susanti Susanti
Lab: In Vivo Cancer Biology
Duration: 4 years, starting October 2026
Closing Date: Monday 18 May 2026
Interviews for this position will take place in July 2026
Background
Worldwide, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and is the leading cause of cancer deaths in females. Whilst treatment outcomes for early-stage disease have improved, late-stage metastatic disease (including to the bone) remains incurable. Our team has recently developed new patient- relevant genetically engineered mouse models of metastatic breast cancer that have the potential to uncover clinically relevant vulnerabilities and test the impact of lifestyle interventions in the context of both primary breast cancer and bone metastasis. Using these highly tractable mouse models of breast cancer this project will utilise multi-omics approaches (such as RNAseq, proteomics, metabolomics and spatial approaches) to characterise primary tumours and bone metastases comparing the impact of high fat diet and defining the molecular pathways, cellular players and microenvironmental interactions that facilitate and regulate primary and metastatic tumour growth. This project will investigate interventions in both primary and metastatic disease with the aim of uncovering precision pathway interventions for clinical application.
Research Question
Which molecular, cellular, and microenvironmental interactions create actionable vulnerabilities in metastatic breast tumours, and can targeted interventions suppress disease progression?
Relevance to cancer challenges in Indonesia
Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in females in Indonesia accounting for over 40% of cases. Late diagnosis of breast cancer in Indonesia leads to a high proportion of females with advanced stage disease that is harder to treat and results in high mortality rates. The proposed work will tackle this problem from 2 angles, first we use multi-omics approaches to identify key adaptive mechanisms utilised by metastatic cells and test druggable pathway interventions. In Indonesia physical activity and obesity-linked dietary patterns are amongst the most important modifiable lifestyle factors that potentially influence breast cancer development, metastases and outcomes. Our second major aim will therefore be to investigate the influence of these key modifiable lifestyle factors on primary tumour development and metastases.
Skills/Techniques that will be gained
The successful student will have the opportunity to master a wide range of in vitro and in vivo models of breast cancer including 2D, 3D/organoid, and organotypic culture models. Expertise will be gained in sophisticated genetically engineered mouse models of cancer and orthotopic transplantation models with advanced in vivo imaging to study metastasis. A variety of molecular biology techniques, analysis of RNA-sequencing data, proteomics and spatial data, flow cytometry, microscopy, viability assays and drug screening approaches will be utilised to unveil and characterise the impact of novel treatment approaches.
For questions regarding the application process, PhD programme/studentships at the CRUK Scotland Institute or any other queries, please contact phdstudentships@crukscotlandinstitute.ac.uk.
Closing date: Monday 18 May 2026
For your application to be considered, you must upload your CV and a completed document CRUK-LPDP Recruitment Form(108 KB)
CRUK Recruitment Form Instructions
- We ask that you do not add your name or any Institution details to the document CRUK-LPDP Recruitment Form(108 KB) .
- Applications will be shortlisted by CRUK SI initially based on the document CRUK-LPDP Recruitment Form(108 KB) only. CVs will be used in further rounds of shortlisting to invite candidates to interview.
