Ms Lauren Powell

Lauren Powell

Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research
PhD Student

Contact details

Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Lauren is an MRC IMPACT PhD student at the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research. Her project investigates the potential of protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) as a therapeutic target against pancreatic cancer.

Qualifications

MSci in Biological Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, 2019

Biography

Lauren graduated from her MSci Biological Sciences degree at the Royal Veterinary College in 2019. Throughout the degree she completed several cancer research projects on various cancer types including: Human Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumours, Devil Facial Tumour Disease and Canine Mammary Tumours.

During her time at the Royal Veterinary College, she was also awarded a vacation studentship funded by the British Pharmacological Society which focused on the use of bioinformatics to investigate the effect of cytochrome P450 polymorphism on arachidonic acid metabolism.

Lauren is now undertaking an MRC IMPACT funded PhD studentship. Her project investigates the potential of protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) as a therapeutic target against pancreatic cancer.

Research

Lauren is currently investigating the potential of protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) as a therapeutic target against pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer remains largely incurable with a one-year survival rate of just 20% and a five-year survival rate of only 7%. PDI is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) enzyme that plays a vital role in proteostasis, its disruption can lead to ER stress and ultimately apoptosis. The project therefore aims to understand how PDI inhibition impacts pancreatic cancer metabolism and proliferation and hence aims to provide a foundation for the clinical development of PDI inhibitors.

Research Groups

The Steroid Metabolism in Cancer Research Group

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Powell, L & Foster, P 2021, 'Protein disulphide isomerase inhibition as a potential cancer therapeutic strategy', Cancer Medicine, vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 2812-2825. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.3836