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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
PhD Project Template
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Use one form per project
Please complete & submit to international@nuigalway.ie as soon as possible, and by 27/11/2012
In your email, begin the subject line with [SWB] (be sure to use square brackets) to ensure that
your email is filed correctly. Emails will be automatically filed
PI name & contact details:
School:
Professor Michael Kerin and
Dr Roisin Dwyer (Co-PI)
Discipline of Surgery
School of Medicine
National University of Ireland Galway
Phone +353-(0)91-524390, Fax: +353-(0)91-494509
Email: Michael.kerin@nuigalway.ie
Roisin.dwyer@nuigalway.ie
Medicine
Has project been agreed with head (or
nominee) of proposed registration
school?
Research Centre / group
affiliation:
Discipline of Surgery Research Group and National Breast
Cancer Research Institute
Research group / centre
website:
www.nuigalway.ie/surgery/research
www.nbcri.ie
PI website / link to CV:
http://www.nuigalway.ie/surgery/prof_kerin.html
http://www.nuigalway.ie/surgery/research/roisin_dwyer.html
Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max):
Breast cancer is the core focus of this research group, with a number of different approaches to
identifying novel biomarkers of disease and therapeutic strategies under investigation. The work
highlighted here investigates the potential of circulating microRNAs as indicators of breast cancer
initiation and progression.
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Circulating microRNAs in Breast Cancer
Micr o RNAs(m iRNAs) ar e sm all n o n -co d in g RNA m o lecu les t h at co n t r o l g en e exp r essio n
p o st -t r an scr ip t io n ally , an d ar e kn o w n t o b e alt er ed in m an y d iseases in clu d in g b r east
can cer . miRNAs have immense potential as biomarkers for disease classification and
prognostication. A large amount of the original work on miRNAs concentrated on their application in
tumour tissue, with their expression profiles used to differentiate tumour tissue from surrounding
normal tissue for tumour classification and for prognostication. miRNAs are now known to be
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
present in the circulation, in a remarkably stable form that is protected from endogenous RNase
activity. Research carried out by this laboratory and others has established that miRNAs detected in
whole blood can serve as circulating biomarkers of disease. Previous research by this group has
identified specific miRNAs to be significantly elevated in the circulation of breast cancer patients
compared to healthy controls, with no change observed in other disease states. This supports the
hypothesis that certain miRNAs are disease specific. There is a continuing search for sensitive
minimally invasive markers that can be exploited to detect early neoplastic changes thus facilitating
the detection of cancer at an early stage. There is also a need for effective biomarkers to be used to
monitor the progress of patients and their response to treatments. The aim of the proposed study is
to further investigate the circulating miRNA profile of breast cancer patients compared to healthy
controls. Ch an g es in t h e levels o f t h ese m iRNAs in p at ien t s f o llo w in g t u m o u r r esect io n
an d in r esp o n se t o t h er ap y w ill also b e d et er m in ed .
Unique selling points of PhD project in NUI Galway:
Breast cancer research is the main focus of the laboratory. Much of the research is aimed at
identification of biomarkers and pathways involved in breast cancer metastasis, investigated
through microRNA analysis, tumour-associated gene expression analysis (RQ-PCR),
immunohistochemistry, cell surface antigen analysis (flow cytometry), and primary culture
techniques. The Discipline of Surgery Biobank, which currently contains >10,000 clinical samples, is a
major advantage for this research group. Ethical approval has already been established for the use
of patient tissue and serum samples, which are also received on a weekly basis. Access to fresh
tissue and serum samples provides a forum for generation of clinically relevant data. Within the
Discipline of Surgery, all equipment and resources required for processing, storage and analysis of
clinical samples are present, e.g.:
 Dedicated hoods for sample homogenisation, miRNA extraction and RQ-PCR respectively
 Fast RQ-PCR machine for large scale analysis of miRNA from clinical samples
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
Contact Co-PI as detailed above
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Biomedical Science, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits- choose only
one (tick box):
Engineering and other technological areas
Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)/Physical Sciences (Mathematics,
Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geosciences)
Health and Biomedical Sciences / Clinical, Pré-clinical and Health Sciences
X
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Computing
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Sustainable Agricultural Production
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals, Minerals Technology
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technologies for Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Disasters
Bioprospecting and Biodiversity
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
New technologies in constructive engineering
Please indicate which of the following applies to this project (referring to Science Without Borders
arrangements):
Suitable only as a Full PhD (Y/N): _ Y____
Available to candidates seeking a Sandwich PhD arrangement (Y/N): _N____
Suitable for either/Don’t know: _____