Understanding Pol0 and ATR inhibitor sensitivity in cancer

New drugs are starting to change the way cancer is treated. With our partner Artios, we have recently identified a new class of cancer drugs, known as Pol0 inhibitors, which work by targeting the DNA repair processes in cancer cells. These drugs kill tumour cells with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations but also kill tumour cells that have developed resistance to a commonly-used targeted therapy, PARP inhibitors. In order to ensure that this promising approach to cancer treatment is used in the most appropriate patients, we need to better understand at the molecular level how Pol0 inhibitors work and how tumour cells might re-wire or evolve in response to Pol0 inhibitor treatment. This PhD is aimed at answering these questions, and will give the candidate high-level training in functional genomics, drug discovery, cancer biology, genetic manipulation, high-content microscopy, image and data analysis, DNA repair biology, cancer drug resistance and synthetic lethality, forming the basis for a later career as a cancer researcher.