Heather Clark

I graduated with a first class in my Biomedical Sciences BSc at the University of Bristol. My dissertation focussed on the effect of the non-canonical NF-κB regulator, B-cell Lymphoma protein-3, on colorectal cancer metastasis. 

I then volunteered for a Haemato-oncology laboratory (led by Professor Chris and Andrea Pepper, University of Sussex) where I used flow cytometry to quantify prognosis marker expression (notably CD49d and CD38) in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells (CLL) to inform studies into CLL cell migration post-TLR9 stimulation.

Subsequently, I worked as a Research Assistant in a Systems Biology laboratory (led by Dr Simon Mitchell, University of Sussex). Here, I generated NF-κB 'fingerprints' of Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma cells (DLBCL) to better understand NF-κB heterogeneity and its impact on DLBCL cell response to microenvironmental stimuli and NF-κB targeted therapies.

I am currently an Oncology Masters by Research student in the Immune Radiation Biology laboratory (led by Monica Olcina). My research project focuses on how C5aR1 targeting in conjunction with radiotherapy mediates a radioprotective affect in normal intestinal tissues, with a particular interest in immune cell-mediated mechanisms. This will contribute to wider research looking to reduce radiotherapy side effects (namely radiation-induced intestinal damage) by targeting complement proteins to increase radio-therapeutic windows and efficacy. My project is supervised by Dr Monica Olcina and Professor Simon Buczacki.

Jayawant E, Pack A, Clark H, Kennedy E, Ghodke A, Jones J, Pepper C, Pepper A and Mitchell S (2023), NF-kB fingerprinting reveals heterogeneous NF-kB composition in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, Front. Oncol. 13:1181660.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1181660