Interorgan communication in Colorectal Cancer

Prof Julia Cordero & Dr Johan Vande Voorde

Labs: Local and Systemic Functions of the Intestine in Health and Disease & Metabolic Crosstalk in Cancer
Duration: 4 years, starting October 2026
Closing Date: 16 January 2026

Background

The adult intestine is a pivotal organ responsible for maintaining physiological, endocrine, immune, and metabolic equilibrium within an organism. Furthermore, the intestine actively participates in bidirectional communication with the central nervous system through the intricate gut-brain axis, which involves the central and enteric nervous systems, along with the endocrine and immune functions of the gut.

Therefore, intestinal disease is known to profoundly impact whole body physiology, including brain-controlled functions. Systemic effects of chronic intestinal inflammation and cancer include peripheric tissue wasting (also known as cachexia) and alterations in central nervous system-regulated behaviours. Little is known about the mechanisms by which intestinal dysfunction impacts such complex host functions. Also, whether mechanisms driving cachexia and behavioural disfunction in colorectal cancer are connected, is unknown. The use of a genetically amenable in vivo model organism, such as Drosophila melanogaster is invaluable for early discovery research in this fundamental area of biomedical science that mandates the study of the intestine its natural microenvironment and as part of a multi-organ system.

Research Question

How does metabolic and immune reprograming of intestinal tumours impact organismal physiology?

How do intestinal tumours affect essential life behaviours?

This research will capitalize on the expertise of the Cordero lab using complex models in Drosophila for independent genetic manipulation of the intestine and peripheric tissues and dovetails with ongoing collaborative work between the Vande Voorde/Sansom labs on mouse models of CRC.

Skills/Techniques that will be gained

• Drosophila melanogaster and mouse genetics: Advance genetics including a diverse range of genetic toolkits in both model organisms.
• Intestinal biology: tissue dissection, staining and imaging.
• Cancer biology: intestinal cancer, stem cells and cancer.
• Metabolism: including the assessment of metabolic function in vivo, and use of LC-MS based tissue metabolomics (including data analysis and interpretation)
• Transcriptomics: Including the use of RNA sequencing (bulk and single nuclei RNA sequencing).
• Neurobiology and behavioural biology.

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: 16 January 2026

Applications are open to all individuals irrespective of nationality or country of residence.

 APPLY HERE

Please note, for your application to be considered, you must upload your CV and a completed document CRUK EDI Recruitment Form(319 KB) .

• We ask that you do not add your name or any Institution details to the CRUK EDI Recruitment Form

• Applications will be shortlisted initially based on the CRUK EDI Recruitment Form only. CVs will be used in further rounds of shortlisting to invite candidates to interview.

Relevant Publications

1. Medina A, Bellec K, Polcowñuk S, Cordero JB. Investigating local and systemic intestinal signalling in health and disease with Drosophila. Dis Model Mech. 2022; 15:dmm049332
2. Medina AB, Perochon J, Tian Y, Johnson CT, Holcombe J, Ramesh P, Polcowñuk S, Yu Y, Cordero JB. Neuroendocrine control of intestinal regeneration through the vascular niche in Drosophila. Dev Cell. 2025.
3. Phillips JA, Perochon J, Johnson CT, Walker M, Nixon C, Hughes M, Barros-Carvalho A, Yu Y, Mitchell L, Blyth K, Vassalli M, Cordero JB. Intestinal Tissue Mechanics Regulate Angiogenesis and Stem Cell Proliferation via Vascular Piezo. bioRxiv. 2025:2025.2004.2016.649133.
4. Vande Voorde J, Steven RT, Najumudeen AK, Ford CA, Dexter A, Gonzalez-Fernandez A, Nikula CJ, Xiang Y, Ford L, Maneta Stavrakaki S, Gilroy K, Zeiger LB, Pennel K, Hatthakarnkul P, Elia EA, Nasif A, Murta T, Manoli E, Mason S, Gillespie M, Lannagan TRM, Vlahov N, Ridgway RA, Nixon C, Raven A, Mills M, Athineos D, Kanellos G, Nourse C, Gay DM, Hughes M, Burton A, Yan B, Sellers K, Wu V, De Ridder K, Shokry E, Huerta Uribe A, Clark W, Clark G, Kirschner K, Thienpont B, Li VSW, Maddocks ODK, Barry ST, Goodwin RJA, Kinross J, Edwards J, Yuneva MO, Sumpton D, Takats Z, Campbell AD, Bunch J, Sansom OJ. Metabolic profiling stratifies colorectal cancer and reveals adenosylhomocysteinase as a therapeutic target. Nature Metabolism. 5(8):1303-1318