research-blog

It has been a busy few months!

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 10:21:01 +0100

May 2023 began with my decision to move universities an my research lab to the University of Liverpool full time. Leaving LJMU after 13 years was a difficult decision but I was ready for a new challenge.

June we welcomed Owen into the team. Owen is funded by NWCR to characterise the tumour immune microenvironment within CCA and to investigate if this is maintained in PLCTS overtime. I also delivered the NC3Rs summer school plenary lecture to the 2023 PhD student cohort which was both an honour and privilege.

July I officially began my new role at UoLiv, as Teaching and Learning lead and I am busy unpacking and settling into a new way of working. We also recruited Danae who will be undertaking a 4 year NC3Rs funded Phd Studentship which begins in October. We have also submitted two grant proposals, so fingers crossed that we manage to secure additional funding.

August we said farewell to Tim as he returns to complete his surgical training. He know has the pleasure of writing his thesis! I know he will remain a valuable and appreciated member of our group. The HPB research fellow position will shortly be filled by Lawrence, who we look forward to working with and welcome him to the team.

Laura

An eventful couple of weeks!

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 19:12:02 +0100

So we met with the NC3Rs to discuss our SKT award to implement PCLS in Liverpool. They seemed happy with the progress made so far despite of our initial challenges with COVID disrupting surgery. This week our wonderful team of surgeons have moved into the brand new Royal Liverpool hospital and today we have begun dosing our slice with standard of care chemotherapeutics. In other news, we have spent several months trying to keep the slices alive in culture to now trying to kill them! Exciting times!

PhD studentship

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 16:53:45 +0100

A fully funded North West Cancer Research fully funded studentship 'Establishing the immune-profile of cholangiocarcinoma and the utility of human precision cut tumour slices (hPCTS) as a platform to assess immunotherapy response' will be available very soon (Expected start Jan 2023). Please email l.e.randle@ljmu.ac.uk to find out more and register your interest.

Team CCA Liverpool

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 16:43:56 +0100

Dr Laura Randle with 2 Phd Candidates in the liver lab. In the hood you can see the Krumdieck tissue slicer which we use to generate precision cut tissue slices.

Left to right: Mr Mohammed Bosakhar (PhD student), Dr Laura Randle, Mr Tim Gilbert (HPB surgical fellow and PhD candidate)

Histology confirms viable slices

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 15:26:12 +0100

Over the last few weeks the team has been preparing and collecting slice for FFPE so that they can be H&E stained to check the structural integrity and stained for various markers to confirm the slices remain viable in culture after 2 weeks. Today we received confirmation from the pathologist that the slices are alive and have good morphology. This is a huge step forward in our project and will now be followed up with functional assays to ensure that the phenotype is maintained in culture.

AMMF 2022

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 15:18:29 +0100

I have recently given a talk “Developing an ex-vivo tissue model of CCA using precision cut tumour slices.” at the AMMF 2022 European Cholangiocarcinoma conference.

I joined Mr Hassan Malik and Mr Tim Gilbert as we showcased the HPB work conducted in Liverpool and the link between basic scientists like myself, the surgeons and the patients.

Our Team is growing!

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 17:42:12 +0100

I am please to announce that Mr Tim Gilbert (AUH HPB Surgical Fellow and UoLiv PhD student) will be working alongside me to implement the PCTS model. Tim collects the specimens in theatre and is helping me to process and analyse the samples.

Mohammed Bosakhar has also joined the group and will be exploring the bioenergetics of CCA using the seahorse platform in collaboration with Dr Amy Chadwick's mitochondrial research group.

We also welcome Sam (MSc student) and Joe (UG student) to the team.

My first meeting with the funding body

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 16:36:14 +0100

Always a bit nerve wracking but today I had a great, first zoom meeting with the NC3Rs team learning about the support available, their expectations, how to maximise impact etc. It is always good to put some faces to names! I discovered that the NC3Rs have a search our science page, where my project has a homepage. You can read the summary here: https://nc3rs.org.uk/determining-efficacy-and-safety-cancer-chemotherapeutics-cholangiocarcinoma-cca-using-human

I best get cracking!

My grant has been funded!

Mon, 06 Sep 2021 15:12:18 +0100

I was sat in my car on 30th April 2021 waiting for my youngest daughter to wake up, casually checking my emails when I noticed a new unread email from Katie Bates - NC3Rs. I knew the decision regarding my Skills and Knowledge Transfer grant was pending and in all honesty wasn't expecting the grant to be successful. i mean it was good but research councils don't fund post 92 universities, or so I thought...

I held my breath and began reading with intrepidation...

'I hope this email finds you well...
I am writing with an update regarding your recent Skills and Knowledge Transfer grant application entitled ‘Determining the efficacy and safety of cancer chemotherapeutics for cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) using Human Precision Cut Tissue Slices (hPCTS)`

so far, so good!

'The Panel met recently and I am very pleased to inform you that your project was recommended for funding, congratulations!`

My jaw dropped, stunned silence! I quickly read the email again, did I read it right... has my grant been successful?!

YES!

I then burst into tears, which is most unlike me! The shock! The relief!

I began pinging emails to my collaborators, line manager and school director...

We got it! I am off to celebrate!