new therapies for devastating diseases including anti-leukaemia therapies.
The Tzelepis group investigates the relevance of RNA modifications in normal and malignant stem cell biology, with a focus on haematopoiesis. Using sophisticated CRISPR screening platforms, the lab has identified a significant number of epitranscriptomic vulnerabilities of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and have gone on to investigate some of these in detail, including the m6A writer METTL3 (Barbieri et al, Nature, 2017) and the m7G writer METTL1 (Orellana et al, Mol Cell, 2021). Notably, their latest study of the first-in-class METTL3 inhibitor (Yankova et al, Nature, 2021) provides strong proof-of-concept that RNA-modifying enzymes represent a new avenue for anti-cancer therapeutics.
Future aims include study of selected RNA modifying enzymes which I identified as essential for either normal or leukaemic haematopoietic stem cells and whose function is currently unknown or incompletely understood with a particular focus on how particular RNA modifications regulate cell fate, differentiation, ageing and leukaemogenesis in normal and malignant haematopoiesis.
To Apply:
We encourage prospective PhD students to reach out directly to Dr Tzelepis, kt404@cam.ac.uk to discuss potential projects and supervision.
Applicants must secure the support of a Supervisor within a laboratory before submitting an application. Please contact the project Supervisor(s) to discuss potential supervision, proposed research project and funding options, which should then be used to write your formal application.
Applications will be submitted to the 'PhD in Stem Cell Biology' and full course details can be found at https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/blscpdscp
Funding Notes
This is not a core-funded PhD programme, and candidates are therefore required to secure their own funding.
Please visit Postgraduate Funding | Cambridge Stem Cell Institute for funding available via the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute.
Funding options should be discussed on an individual basis with the proposed Supervisor before submitting an application.
Applicants are recommended to apply to the University funding scheme by ticking 'Yes - I wish to apply for funding ' in the funding section of the Applicant Portal, by the funding deadline. You will then automatically be considered for any University funding that you are eligible for.
To learn more about how to apply for University funding, please visit Postgraduate funding | Postgraduate Study
