Enhancing immune responses to radiation with spatiotemporal dose modulation and drug combinations

Radiotherapy is an effective curative treatment for many cancers, with both activating and suppressing effects on the immune cells within a tumour. This project will investigate two new types of radiotherapy in immunocompetent animal models and patient samples, and whether they can improve immune activation compared with standard radiation. FLASH radiotherapy gives radiation at a dose-rate orders of magnitude higher than standard radiation, and is thought to spare normal tissues through, as yet, poorly understood mechanisms. Microbeam radiation gives radiation in stripes to tens to hundreds of microns, and through the partial-tumour irradiation is also thought to spare normal tissues.  

Candidates must have a BSc in Biological Sciences