Unmasking the ongoing and fine grained mutational spectra of pancreatic cancer

Professor Martin Taylor

Primary supervisor: Professor Martin Taylor, MRC Human Genetics Unit, IGMM, University of Edinburgh Secondary supervisors Dr David Chang & Dr Susanna Cooke, Research Institute of Cancer Sciences, Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, University of Glasgow

The signature of mutations that accumulate in a cancer can reveal underlying defects in the cancer cell and indicate vulnerabilities that are used to guide treatment. Through innovative computational analysis of pancreatic cancer genome sequencing data, this project will separate out the “fosilised” mutation signature, from that of ongoing mutagenic processes in the cancer cells, allowing the better targeting of therapies. A second strand of the project based on the same underlying data will explore how mutation signatures vary across a single genome, exploring heterogeneity in mutagenesis and repair to understand the underlying molecular processes.