Ahana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Leukaemia

Ahana Mitra, a medicine student, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Stuart Rushworth’s group based in the Bob Champion Research and Education (BCRE) building, UEA.

Her project was on chemotherapy resistance in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. This allowed her to gain experience in cancer research in outside of clinics and in a laboratory environment.

The current problem

There are 2,900 new cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) each year in the UK (Cancer Research UK, 2019). Currently, AML has many treatment options including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and stem cell transplantation, which are not always successful. Due to potential relapse or resistance to treatment, new treatments and other drug options are still being explored.

The research

The Rushworth lab has shown previously that cancer (AML) cells can take mitochondria – the powerhouse of the cell – from surrounding healthy cells for its own use. When they are used up, they transport these mitochondria out through small cellular compartments called vesicles. The aim was to stop this transport. Thus, the mitochondria can build up and lead to cell death in the cancer cells.

Throughout her project, Ahana developed an experiment to detect vesicle formation in AML cells. To then test over 50 drugs to see which was most effective. She found that a drug called Pu-dz8, showed a drastic effect on the AML cells. To improve our understanding of this drug’s mechanism and effectiveness as a cancer treatment; she remarks that, ‘[this is] an exciting new finding that will need to be investigated further’.

In a nutshell, a drug was found to affect cancer cells, specifically AML cells, which may offer a new treatment opportunity upon further research.

Personal Experience

This studentship has helped Ahana learn a multitude of lab skills. From pipetting to more complex techniques, such as, cell culture, flow cytometry and running biochemical assays (experiments).

‘This studentship has allowed me to develop a new skillset that I would not have had the chance to develop otherwise as a medical student.’

“It was a wonderful experience that I would highly recommend. ”

Ahana Mitra
Learn about Undergraduate studentship opportunities

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A photo of undergraduate Rana Haidari on tumour growth research

Rana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Tumour Growth

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Nana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Cancer Drug Treatments

Nana Adwoa Ampong undertook a Big C LILAC funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr. Andrew Beekman’s group based in the School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology at UEA.

Her project investigated how to combat chemoresistance in cancer. Where she gained experience in cancer research with a flare of research and development (R&D) process.

The current problem

Peptide-based drugs are commonly used in chemotherapy; however, they have their limitations on effectiveness. Whereas, another class of drugs called small molecule drugs are gaining popularity with their targeted approach but again is limited in their effectiveness.

Making a combination small molecule-peptide drug would combine the benefits of both, whilst avoiding the disadvantages.

The research

Throughout her project, Nana looked at how two proteins interact. These proteins are involved in a process called transcription that help cells grow and function. By disrupting this interaction with the drug, this can prevent cancer growth. She successfully made a combined small molecule-peptide drug. This would need to be tested on cancer cells to see its effectiveness.

In a nutshell, making a combination small molecule-peptide chemotherapeutic drug would combine the benefits of both drugs, targeting cancer cells.

Personal Experience

This studentship has allowed Nana to experience a range of lab techniques and equipment that is normally unavailable in undergraduate labs.

Nana noted her progress over the summer; ‘At the end of the internship, there was a significant difference in the skills [compared to the beginning]’. She enjoyed applying her scientific knowledge from undergraduate lectures into real-world research laboratories.

“I would like to say a big thank you to the LILAC foundation for supporting me in this endeavour.”

Nana Adwoa Ampong

Learn about Undergraduate studentship opportunities

Let’s keep in touch

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Ahana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Leukaemia

Ahana Mitra, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Stuart Rushworth’s group based in the BCRE, UEA.

Read more

Freddie’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Prostate Cancer

Freddie Marlowe undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Daniel Brewer’s group based in BCRE, UEA.

Read more
A photo of undergraduate Rana Haidari on tumour growth research

Rana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Tumour Growth

Rana Haidari, a Biomedicine student, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr Derek Warren’s lab group based in the Biomedical Research Centre (BMRC), UEA.

Read more
Brunette long haired woman, smiling, wearing a yellow and green stripy jumper

Katharine’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Endothelial Cells

Katharine Williams undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr Stephen Robinson’s group based at Quadram, Norwich.

Read more

Freddie’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Prostate Cancer

Freddie Marlowe undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Daniel Brewer’s group based in the Bob Champion Research and Education (BCRE) building, UEA.

His project titled ‘Discovering distinct biological pathways to progression in prostate cancer’ meant he gained experience in cancer research in terms of data science.

The current problem

More than 63,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the UK (Prostate Cancer UK, 2025), however, not all of them will be necessarily aggressive. Therefore, to prevent unnecessary treatment that often results in life-changing side effects, it is important to accurately determine prognosis, optimise treatment pathways and help develop targeted drugs.

The research

This is where Freddie comes in. To better understand the features linked to prostate cancer aggressiveness and recurrence, during his research project, Freddie used a machine learning model called ‘Random Forest’. A machine learning model is a programme that has been trained on a dataset so that it can recognise patterns, categorise and predict future data.

He applied this model on prostate cancer samples from over 100 patients, which allowed him to distinguish between non-aggressive/aggressive cancers as well as the likelihood of recurrence of the cancer after treatment. He also looked at the changes in genes from both cancerous and normal prostate tissue samples. This revealed that cancer cells had more genes involved in metastasis and reduced normal tissue function.

In a nutshell, these findings help explain why some prostate cancers behave more aggressively than others and may help improve future diagnosis and treatment

Personal Experience

This studentship has helped Freddie further develop his skills such as R coding (a type of computer language), data processing and an understanding for machine learning.

“It has given me the opportunity to apply concepts I have learnt during my degree studies to real research in cancer biology.” This project showed him what academic research entails and how engaging and inspiring it is.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and am hugely grateful to Big C.”

Freddie Marlowe
Learn about Undergraduate studentship opportunities

Let’s keep in touch

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Ahana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Leukaemia

Ahana Mitra, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Stuart Rushworth’s group based in the BCRE, UEA.

Read more

Nana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Cancer Drug Treatments

Nana Adwoa Ampong undertook a Big C LILAC funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr. Andrew Beekman’s group based at UEA.

Read more
A photo of undergraduate Rana Haidari on tumour growth research

Rana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Tumour Growth

Rana Haidari, a Biomedicine student, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr Derek Warren’s lab group based in the Biomedical Research Centre (BMRC), UEA.

Read more
Brunette long haired woman, smiling, wearing a yellow and green stripy jumper

Katharine’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Endothelial Cells

Katharine Williams undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr Stephen Robinson’s group based at Quadram, Norwich.

Read more

Rana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Tumour Growth

Rana Haidari, a Biomedicine student, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr Derek Warren‘s lab group based in the Biomedical Research Centre (BMRC), UEA. Under the supervision of Dr Robert Johnson.

A photo of undergraduate Rana Haidari on tumour growth research

What happens during tumour growth?

As tumours grow, they change their surrounding environment to suit the needs of the tumour – this includes recruiting their own blood supply via the process of angiogenesis (blood vessel formation). One change that has been observed is the stiffness of the tissue surrounding the tumour increases. Tissue stiffness has recently been shown to regulate cell behaviour.

In the context of cancer, the question remains, does increased tissue stiffness aid a tumour’s recruitment of a blood supply?

Understanding this mechanism can allow development of therapies that can block this process, preventing tumour growth/metastasis.

Does tissue stiffness cause an angiogenic response in endothelial cells?

Rana looked at how the behaviour of endothelial cells, the cell type that make up our blood vessels, changes based on the stiffness of the surface they are grown on. She used polyacrylamide hydrogels, to mimic the physiological and pathological stiffness of many solid tumours.

She also investigated the effect of an increase in stiffness, which occurs as cancers grow, on endothelial cells. She found that there was an increase in the ability of endothelial cells to grow, replicate and move, all processes a tumour requires them to undergo, in order to recruit its own blood supply.

Anti-angiogenic therapies

Anti-angiogenic therapies have long been hypothesised to be a potential cancer treatment. Despite promising pre-clinical findings, anti-angiogenic therapies typically fail during Phase I or II clinical trials, showing little to no benefit to the patient. When studying the behaviour of endothelial cells, those which comprise our blood vessels, the vast majority of studies have been performed on glass or plastic, materials whose stiffness is 1000x greater than the tissues in which solid tumours typically form.

Findings

Given that the extra-cellular environment surrounding tumour cells stiffens as the tumour grows, investigating the angiogenic behaviour of endothelial cells on physiological and pathologically relevant substrate stiffnesses may provide novel insight to how tumour angiogenesis occurs.

During her studentship, she found that the angiogenic behaviour of endothelial cells is regulated by substrate stiffness. Not only that, but that endothelial cells from specific tissues may be adapted to the stiffness of their host tissue!

In a nutshell, these findings show that anti-angiogenic therapies that work for a certain type of cancer, may not work for others and further research is needed in this field.

Personal Experience

Rana recounts that ‘this project gave me a real insight into what a research lab entails‘ as she aims to embark medical research in the future after her undergraduate degree.

“I am so grateful for this brilliant opportunity”

RANA HAIDARI, BIOMEDICAL STUDENT

Let’s keep in touch

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Ahana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Leukaemia

Ahana Mitra, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Stuart Rushworth’s group based in the BCRE, UEA.

Read more

Nana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Cancer Drug Treatments

Nana Adwoa Ampong undertook a Big C LILAC funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr. Andrew Beekman’s group based at UEA.

Read more

Freddie’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Prostate Cancer

Freddie Marlowe undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Daniel Brewer’s group based in BCRE, UEA.

Read more
Brunette long haired woman, smiling, wearing a yellow and green stripy jumper

Katharine’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Endothelial Cells

Katharine Williams undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr Stephen Robinson’s group based at Quadram, Norwich.

Read more

Katharine’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Endothelial Cells

Katharine Williams, a Biomedicine student, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr Stephen Robinson’s group based at the Quadram Institute Biosciences, Norwich.

Her project investigated how neuropilin-1 (NRP1) and neuropilin-2 (NRP2) work together in endothelial cells to regulate signalling responses to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in terms of tumour growth.

Brunette long haired woman, smiling, wearing a yellow and green stripy jumper

The research

In order for a tumour to grow it needs plenty of nutrition, which it can obtain from the blood in the blood vessels. Tumours can promote angiogenesis (blood vessel formation) to benefit them. To observe these changes on a cellular level endothelial cells, cells that line blood vessels, are used.

Therefore, Katharine investigated the angiogenic signalling pathways downstream of the two receptors (found on endothelial cells) by using a multitude of techniques. This ranged from cell culture to Western Blot analysis (a laboratory technique used to detect a specific protein in a blood or tissue sample).

Through her studentship, she identified NRP2 (one of the receptors on endothelial cells) directly affects Paxillin, a protein involved in cell adhesion. The depletion of NRP2 alters these proteins reducing the vessels efficacy as it becomes leakier.

In a nutshell, these findings show that understanding this mechanism can help target tumour angiogenesis, reducing its growth.

Personal Experience

Katharine higlighted the importance of developing ‘the key skills and expertise that are important in a research lab‘.

She also explained that she ‘wanted to gain a greater insight into what research looks like and better understanding of the whole process‘.

She was particularly interested in the importance of angiogenesis in tumour development and how ECs drive and impact angiogenesis and thus tumour growth.

“I found the whole experience really valuable and I am thankful for Big C for funding this studentship”

Katharine Williams

Learn about Undergraduate studentship opportunities

Let’s keep in touch

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive news and updates from Big C.

Sign up

Ahana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Leukaemia

Ahana Mitra, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Stuart Rushworth’s group based in the BCRE, UEA.

Read more

Nana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Cancer Drug Treatments

Nana Adwoa Ampong undertook a Big C LILAC funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr. Andrew Beekman’s group based at UEA.

Read more

Freddie’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Prostate Cancer

Freddie Marlowe undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Prof. Daniel Brewer’s group based in BCRE, UEA.

Read more
A photo of undergraduate Rana Haidari on tumour growth research

Rana’s Undergraduate Summer Bursary in Tumour Growth

Rana Haidari, a Biomedicine student, undertook a Big C funded 8-week undergraduate summer project in Dr Derek Warren’s lab group based in the Biomedical Research Centre (BMRC), UEA.

Read more