Theressa Ewa, (Mar. 31, 2025)The PhD journey can be very daunting as it is uncharted territory. However, in my time in the Department of Oncology I have received first-class support professionally, academically, and socially. On one memorable occasion my supervisor approached me to invite me to a seminar given by one of the authors of a book I had been reading on the subject of cancer epidemiology. He had taken the time and interest to notice what I was reading and made the effort to invite me to the author’s seminar so that I could meet him. This personal approach and interest makes all the difference.
There have been countless days when an experiment isn’t working or I have writers’ block, and having someone to speak to from lab or the wider department has been wonderful.
The multidisciplinary nature of the department has also been hugely beneficial to my project. As my research combines cancer epidemiology and bioinformatics, I had wondered whether my primary lab, which is more focused on molecular tumour biology, might be able to provide me with computational assistance. However, my principal supervisor has always connected me with other researchers in the department whose expertise is in computational or statistical research who could advise me appropriately.
Outside of my project, the department has provided numerous opportunities for career development ranging from regular seminars to 6-month long enrichment programs. To say the least, my time in the Department of Oncology has been wonderful, and I have no doubts that it’ll continue to be better.
Rebecca Wray, (Mar. 31, 2025)I chose to study a PhD at the Early Cancer Institute in September 2024 following an MRes where I was lucky to do two short and exciting projects, one with Dr Mireia Crispin and a second with Prof. Siddhartha Kar. Thanks to access to excellent computational expertise in the Department of Oncology, I have really enjoyed learning how to apply AI to problems in cancer which are, as yet, unsolved and identifying novel biomarkers for both early detection and for treatment response prediction in complicated clinical scenarios. It is a great privilege be a part of the Oncology research community in Cambridge where great strides are being made all the time to understand cancer biology, treat it better and detect it earlier.
Lucy Faulkner, (Mar. 31, 2025)Undertaking this PhD programme has enabled me to excel as a scientist and a researcher. Access to facilities available across the CRUK Cambridge Centre enables me to perform high quality research at the forefront of my academic field. The programme is very well supported on multiple levels, and I have benefitted enormously from the numerous high quality teaching opportunities. I have enjoyed attending the wide variety of talks and seminars available in a range of cancer related topics and am continually inspired by hearing first-hand from speakers who are renowned in their field.