Dear
Anglo-Danish Society,
Thank
you very much for your generous support which allowed me to pursue the degree
of Master of Philosophy in Medical Sciences from the University of Cambridge. I
have had a great year in Cambridge!
I
have a BSc in Molecular Biomedicine from the University of Copenhagen. Alongside
my BSc studies, I worked part-time as a researcher at the Dept. of Clinical
Biochemistry, Herlev Hospital. Here, I researched the impact of common genetic
variants found in the Danish population on the risk of developing cancer. This
work led to two publications and a poster presentation at a major international
cancer conference. My BSc thesis was done within the field of tumour immunology
at the Centre for Cancer Immune Therapy, Herlev Hospital, and I subsequently
continued my work there for 1 year as a research assistant.
As
evident from the above, my main research interest has always been cancer. According
to the WHO, cancer was responsible for more than 7.9 million deaths worldwide
in 2007. As cancer is essentially the derangement of normal cellular processes as
a result of both genetic and environmental factors, it has proved an infinitely
challenging problem. Treatments are in many cases not very effective, and often
only extend life rather than cure the disease. Furthermore, most conventional
treatments have devastating side-effects which contribute to the hardship that
cancer patients endure. Therefore, new and better treatments are urgently
needed.
With
its excellent reputation in the sciences and large biomedical campus based
around Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the University of Cambridge seemed the obvious
choice as the place to do my Master’s degree. The MPHIL is a one year
research-based Master’s degree. My research was carried out at the Cancer
Research UK Cambridge Research Institute under the supervision of Professor
Gillian Murphy. My MPHIL thesis was on ADAM17, a protein that is of great
importance in cancer. ADAM17 works as a “molecular scissor” by releasing growth
factors from the cell surface. These growth factors enhance the development and
progression of the cancer, and it is hoped that ADAM17 will be an effective
target for cancer therapy. However, very little is known about the precise
mechanisms of action and regulation of ADAM17. To make things even more
complicated, ADAM17 is a member of a large family of proteins with similar
functions. While being involved in cancer progression, these proteins also
carry out important “normal” physiological processes vital to health. Drugs
targeting this family have been tested as cancer treatments. However, early
trials failed due to widespread side effects – caused by poor specificity of
the treatments. Thus, for ADAM17 to be
useful in cancer treatment, we must know more about how it works, so we can
target it specifically and effectively. In line with this, my work explored a
variety of ADAM17 activating stimuli and their regulatory mechanisms in human
cancer cell lines. Out of my studies in Cambridge came an opportunity to
continue with this area of study through PhD studies at the University of
Copenhagen – something I look very much forward to.
Doing
my degree in Cambridge gave me a number of benefits. First and foremost, I got
to work with world-class scientists and learn techniques that are not widely
available. Research in Cambridge is tremendously well funded – and I was
extremely impressed with the state-of-the-art equipment available. Also, the Cambridge
Research Institute has amazing core facilities with dedicated staff ready to help
and teach new techniques. Equipment that you would normally have to borrow from
collaborators or simply do without was all there at your fingertips. The day-to-day
running of the lab is also taken care of for you – and this high level of
research support means that Cambridge researchers have more time to focus on
what they do best – their research. That the MPHIL degree is so short also makes
it extra challenging. There are a lot of experiments to be done in a short time,
allowing for plenty of practice of time-management skills and effective working
habits! All of this combined has helped me develop as a scientist – and I
believe this year will serve me very well in the future.
Once
again, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the members of the Society for their generosity.
It was lovely to meet some of you at the anniversary reception last winter in
London. I feel truly privileged to have had the opportunity to spend a year in
Cambridge, and am very grateful to you all for that!
Sarah
Dombernowsky
