Deborah Goberdhan and Elizabeth Bird-Lieberman from the Translational Gastroenterology Unit of the Experimental Medicine Division, John Radcliffe Hospital, have been awarded a Cancer Research UK Primer grant of £100,000 to study ‘Serum extracellular vesicle signatures as biomarkers for non-invasive early detection of oesophageal adencarcinoma’.
Exosomes are a type of extracellular vesicle, carrying complex mixtures of proteins and other macromolecules, which are key mediators of communication between cancer cells.
The award builds on the team’s recent identification of novel exosome subtypes and clinical expertise in oesophageal cancer to develop non-invasive early detection methods for this disease, the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the UK.
This grant provides funds to support a Postdoctoral Research Scientist and a part-time Research Technician. A/Prof Goberdhan and Dr Bird-Lieberman would be happy to receive informal enquiries about these positions by email.