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October 3, 2016
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October 11, 2016
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Webpage:https://medicine.tcd.ie/surgery/research/research-staff-profiles.php

Research Field
  • cancer/oncology
My WorkProf. Jacintha O'Sullivan is an Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, TCD. She directs a multidisciplinary translational oncology research program in gastrointestinal cancers (oesophageal and colorectal) and their pre-neoplastic associated inflammatory diseases, Barrett’s Oesophagus and Inflammatory Bowel Disease respectively. This group’s main translational goal is to better understand the role of metabolism, inflammation and obesity in driving disease progression and also their importance in regulating treatment response in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment settings.
In parallel, Prof. O'Sullivan's translational oncology program centres on the development and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics platforms to improve GI patient diagnosis and response to therapy with the goal of individualising personalised patient treatment. This research theme is linked to the oncology drug discovery program run in her group which has strong innovative and commercial benefits.
Research Theme 1: Diagnostic validation of signatures of disease progression and treatment response in GI inflammatory diseases and GI cancers.
Research Theme 2: Targeting radioresistance in gastrointestinal cancers
Research Theme 3: Elucidating the cross talk between the tumour microenvironment and the immune system: implications for treatment response.
Outline of Potential Research projectsTargeting radiation resistance in gastrointestinal cancers: role for obesity and inflammation: is there a place for radiosensitisers in the neoadjuvant setting?
Supervisor: Prof. Jacintha O'Sullivan, Department of Surgery, Trinity College Dublin

The incidence of oesophageal and colorectal cancers are significantly increasing in parallel with rising obesity levels in Ireland and internationally. These patients receive neoadjuvant treatment (prior to surgery) to debulk tumour size to improve surgery success. However, only 30% of these patients respond, leaving 70% of patients with no benefit, a delay to surgery, significantly impacting patient outcome. There is a need to develop small molecule radiosensitisers in the neoadjuvant space. Prof. O’Sullivan’s group has patented a number of dual action small molecule drugs as potential radiosenstisers, however the effect of these treatments in an obese tumour microenvironment and on inflammatory phenotypes are unknown. Using patient ex vivo tumour and fat explant tissues and blood samples from our patient biobanks, and mouse models, this project will investigate how these novel radiosensitiers work in an obese inflammatory tumour microenvironment and their effects on radiation sensitivity levels, metabolism and metabolite profiles and inflammatory phenotypes. All data will be linked to detailed clinical, pathological and patient outcome data.