Bin-Zhi Qian
Tumour Microenvironment in Cancer Metastasis and Therapy Resistance
Research in a Nutshell
Metastatic disease, spread of tumour cells from the primary tumour into other organs of the body, remains the number one threat of patients of breast and prostate cancer despite great improvement in early diagnosis and surgical removal. Thus, our long term research goal is to understand the mechanism of cancer metastasis and develop effective therapeutic approaches. Our specific focus is on interactions between metastatic tumour cells and associated host cell types which has been largely overlooked in the past. To this end, we have developed a series of new in vivo models, novel imaging technologies and in vitro and in vivo function assays.
There are currently three major areas of research:
- Further understand the mechanism of host cells promotion of cancer metastasis with a focus on myeloid cells and mesenchymal stem cells.
- Develop novel therapeutic strategies against metastatic disease by targeting host-derived factors.
- Further understand the role of tumour microenvironment in drug resistance.
- Translate our findings into humanized models and patient derived samples in collaboration with clinicians.
Our objective is to provide novel insights into the disease mechanism and develop novel therapeutic approaches for effective treatment of metastatic disease.
People |
|
| Bin-Zhi Qian | Principal Investigator, CRUK Career Development Fellow and UoE Chancellor’s Fellow |
| Galadrielle Biver | Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
| Ashley Dorning | Laboratory Manager |
| Ruoyu Ma | PhD student |
| Nikki Graham | PhD student |
| Xue-Feng Li | Postdotoral Research Fellow |
| Alex Williamson | Master student |
| Shuiqing Wu | Visiting Scientist |
Alumni |
|
| Heyuan Li | Master student |
| Jian Cao | Visiting Scientist |
| Meghan Maslen | Master student |
| Jiali Zhang | Visiting Scientist |
Contact
Collaborations
- Professor David Cameron, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Margaret Frame, University of Edinburgh
- Dr Larry Hayward and Dr Jeremy Thomas, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
- Professor Jeffrey W. Pollard, University of Edinburgh
- Dr Charles L. Sawyers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York
- Dr Brett S. Carver, Weill Cornell Medical College and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York
Partners and Funders
- Cancer Research UK/Career Development Fellowship/2015-2021/£1.5million
- European Research Council Starting Grant/2017-2022/€1.5million
Scientific Themes
Tumour microenvironment, bone metastasis, therapy resistance
Technology Expertise
Metastasis, intra-vital imaging, macrophages, breast cancer, prostate cancer, mesenchymal cell