Voice from the Lab: Rosemary Lane

What are you currently working on?

I am a PhD student working on the most aggressive brain cancer type, called Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). This disease has a bad prognosis and new treatments are urgently required.

My research is focused on turning GBM cells into non-cancer cells in a process called differentiation, thereby reducing their invasive, migratory and growth potential. I hope to do this by targeting a specific class of proteins called ‘protein kinases’ that are prevalent in numerous cell signalling pathways. These can activate and deactivate other proteins by adding phosphate groups to them.

The ultimate goal is to identify a protein kinase that when targeted can cause differentiation of GBM cells. This treatment will ideally pass through the blood brain barrier, bind with high affinity and be delivered into the body non-invasively i.e. via nasal sprays or in tablet form.

What motivates you?

Cancer is becoming a more prevalent disease with a forecast of one out of two people getting cancer in their lifetime. Brain cancer has an incredibly fast onset with an average survival of only 12-15 months after diagnosis. What motivates me is the hope that with my research I will extend individuals lifespans and give people longer time with their families, with the final goal of finding a cure and pushing these patients into complete remission.

Read more about the research Rosemary is working on here.

Read more Voices from the Lab here: Dr. Biancastella Cereser, Dr. Nina Moderau, Dr. Silvia Ottaviani, Dr. Elena Lopez-Jimenez, Neha Tabassum, Dr. Philip Lawton and Dr. Niklas Feldhahn.