Dr Clara Cieza-Borrella
Dr Clara Cieza-Borrella is Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology and Principal Investigator in the Prostate Cancer Research Group at St. George’s, University of London (SGUL). Graduated from University of Salamanca (Spain) with BSc in Biology, Dr Cieza-Borrella obtained her MSc in Clinical and Biology of Cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research (CSIC-University of Salamanca). In 2014, she got her PhD in Medicine and joined the Oncogenetics team at the Institute of Cancer Research (London, UK), where she carried out her postdoctoral studies in prostate cancer genetics and functional studies.
Dr Clara Cieza-Borrella specialises in cancer genetics and is particularly interested in cutting-edge molecular biology technologies such as 3D cultures, CRISPR/Cas9, liquid biopsies and targeted therapies. Moreover, she combines her teaching and daily research with Public Engagement activities especially addressed to children and youth groups as part of her UK STEM Ambassador role.
In her spare time, Clara enjoys gardening, baking, travelling, watching and doing sports and considers herself a bit foodie!
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Twitter: @clara_cieza
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Ms Grace Danquah
Ms Grace Danquah graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (Ghana) with BSc in Biochemistry, and is currently doing the MRes Biomedical Sciences at St. George’s University of London.
Prior to her postgraduate studies, Grace worked for two years as an associate practitioner in a histology and microbiology diagnostic laboratory at Wolverhampton.
As part of her MRes research project, Grace is investigating the effects of arsenic chronic exposure on prostate cells. On a global scale, this study is very relevant due to the presence of arsenic in the drinking water of some countries that do not have the adequate resources to treat their drinking water.
Her hobbies include reading and travelling.
Ms Mar Pelaez
Ms Mar Peláez is an undergraduate student from the University of Barcelona (Spain) where she is finishing her last year of BSc Biomedical Sciences. Mar has recently joined The Prostate Cancer Biology Team as Erasmus student to carry out her final-year research project. Mar’s work involves the use of three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems (spheroids) that resemble the human prostate acini structures and are made from normal prostate and prostate carcinoma immortalised cell lines with the aim of comparing the different prostate cells ability to invade the lumen of the acini using confocal imaging.
In her spare time, Mar likes cooking, travelling, watching movies and spending time with family and friends.
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Mary-Pia Jeyerajasingham
Ms Mary-Pia Jeyarajasingham is a recent MSci Biomedical Sciences graduate from St George’s, University of London (SGUL). She has been an active member of our team for the past two years as a laboratory assistant, aiding current MSc and MRes students with their projects, as well as conducting several characterisation mini-projects for the team.
Prior to this, she completed an industrial placement year at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) which involved the characterisation of cellular metabolic profiles as part of an assay for a safety portfolio capability development project.
Her interest in cell and molecular biology will be further developed at the University of Cambridge where she will be undertaking a PhD commencing in late September 2022. The PhD project (funded and in collaboration with AstraZeneca) will focus on the development of actin regulatory antibodies as in vivo expressed biologics.
Hobbies include playing the piano and violin, reading (lots!), travelling and posting regularly on her science communication (SciComm) blog (@TheBiomedWaterCooler). The link to her Instagram blog is here: https://www.instagram.com/thebiomedwatercooler/
She is also working on article collaborations with the European Association of Cancer Research (EACR) for their magazine, The Cancer Researcher, due to publish soon – watch this space!
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Dr Ferran Valderrama
Dr Ferran Valderrama is a cell biologist with research interest in cell polarity and migration in the physiological context of cancers of epithelial origin (particularly prostate cancer).
He has been developing 3D cell culture models aiming to recapitulate the early events observed in the glandular structures of the prostate that lead to prostate cancer. Using epifluorescence and confocal microscopy in live and fix specimens the lab aims to understand how changes in cell polarity and cell migration lead to early disruption of the epithelial organisation of the glands (intraepithelial neoplasia) and subsequent proliferation and migration towards the lumen (intraluminal proliferation).
In this context, his research has identified a molecular pathway in the interface between the plasma membrane and the actin cytoskeleton with potential therapeutic capacity aiming to reduce tumour growth.
Biosketch
Ferran obtained his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology under the supervision of Professor Gustavo Egea studying Intracellular membrane dynamics, where his studies established the presence of actin microfilaments in COP-I vesicles derived from the Golgi complex.
During his postdoctoral training – when he was awarded a European Union-Marie Curie Postdoctoral fellowship – Ferran first joined the laboratory of Dr Michael Way at the European Molecular Biology Laboratories (EMBL) in Heidelberg (Germany) and later on at the London Research Institute (LRI-CRUK) in London (UK). Of interest, amongst the investigations carried on during that period is the identification of a vaccinia virus (a relative of the smallpox causative virus) protein able to induce migration of the host cells upon infection. Subsequently, Ferran moved to the laboratory of Professor Anne Ridley first at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and subsequently at the Randall Institute in King’s College London, where he studied the role of the Ezrin-Radixin-Moesin (ERM) family of proteins – involved in the regulation of the interface between the actin cytoskeleton and the plasma membrane – during migration of prostate cancer cells.
Aurora Campagna
Ms Aurora Campagna is a PhD student at St George’s University of London (SGUL). Graduated from University of Milan (Italy) with a BSc in Medical Biotechnology, Ms Campagna obtained her MSc in Translational Medicine at SGUL in 2021. Her PhD program in Cancer Biology and Immunotherapy is funded by the UK Institute for Cancer Vaccines and immunotherapy (ICVI) and supervised by Dr Bodman-Smith, Dr Cieza-Borrella and Dr Valderrama.
In her project, Aurora uses three-dimensional (3D) cell culture system to untangle the complex mechanisms involved in cancer immunosurveillance, aiming to determine the immunotherapeutic potential of ɣδ T cells to stop the progression of prostate cancer.
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Rhys Owen
Mr Rhys Owen is a T-year medical student at St. George’s University of London (SGUL). Prior to starting at St. George’s, Rhys studied Psychology at Loughborough University. He was first introduced to the work of the team as part of the Summer School programme ran by SGUL in 2020. During which he did a project on the use of biomarkers for metastatic progression of prostate cancer. Since then, he has been helping the team with their MSc, MRes and PhD projects. Coming from a clinical background, Rhys particularly enjoys contemplating how the research work done by the team can be applied to the clinical setting.
Outside of university Rhys enjoys playing sport, reading and travelling.
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