Supervisor:
Program of Study:
PhD, Microbiology and Immunology
Project Title:
Defining the genomic and immunologic landscape of colorectal cancer
Research Summary:
Colorectal cancer remains a significant cause of cancer occurrence and death in Canada, especially in the Atlantic Region. With research, we have already learned that the disease is different between patients, which means they need different therapies. Treatment decisions are now made based on the genetic features of a person’s tumour, and whether they have a family history of colorectal cancer. Colorectal tumours can spread and grow back after chemotherapy and surgery, but the immune system can help remove any tumour cells that remain. The immune system is a dynamic set of different kinds of cells that work together to rid the body of damaged, diseased, or infected cells. These cells can have different functions, so we are trying to understand how to best support the immune cells as they target colorectal cancer. I am partnering with scientists and physicians across the Atlantic provinces to study how the immune response in colorectal cancer is related to its genetic features. We are using cutting-edge technology to study the types of immune cells within colorectal cancer and how they interact with each other and tumour cells, testing to see whether this is associated with the tumour’s genetic mutations. We will use computational analysis to combine treatment outcomes, genetic and immunologic analysis. With this approach, we expect to learn how to predict the best treatment for each patient.
Scholarships and/or Awards:
- Cancer Research Training Program (CRTP) Traineeship Award 2023
- Kilpatrick Trust-Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine Graduate Studentship 2023
Career Aspirations:
Work in the industry of research and development of immunotherapies against cancer.
Location:
Dalhousie University
Publications:
Nersesian, S., Arseneau, R. J., Mejia, J. P., Lee, S. N., Westhaver, L. P., Griffiths, N. W., Grantham, S. R., Meunier, L., Communal, L., Mukherjee, A., Mes-Masson, A. M., Arnason, T., Nelson, B. H., & Boudreau, J. E. (2024). Improved overall survival in patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer is associated with CD16a+ immunologic neighborhoods containing NK cells, T cells and macrophages. Frontiers in immunology, 14, 1307873. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1307873