Christina Turner

I obtained a first class honours degree from the University of Chester, where my undergraduate research project focused on the effect of HSP-90 inhibitors in leukaemia under the supervision of Dr John Williams. I then moved to Imperial College London to undertake an MRes in cancer biology looking at the role of IL-8 in ovarian cancer with Dr Mona El-Bahrawy and trialling DNA-PK and AKT inhibitors in ovarian cancer primary specimens with Dr Euan Stronach. After completing my MRes I then moved to University College London where I worked as a research assistant, testing novel HIF1α inhibitors in osteosarcoma.

I am currently a third year DPhil student within the bone oncology lab headed by Dr Claire Edwards. My research focuses on the mechanisms of prostate cancer-induced bone disease.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer amongst men in the UK and although initial survival rates are high, once bone metastasis occurs, these survival rates will drop to just 30%. Understanding the mechanisms behind what promotes bone metastasis and identifying specific drivers of disease may lead to improvements in patient therapy and provide new biomarkers in order to predict patient outcome.