ATRT is a highly malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumor which commonly affects children under 3 years of age. It clinically presents as 1%–2% of all paediatric central nervous system tumors and is reported to be the most common malignant CNS tumor in children under 6 months of age.
Treatment of this aggressive tumor represents a significant clinical challenge. Drug repurposing represents an alternative to conventional chemotherapy and involves the use of existing drugs for medical conditions they were not originally designed for. This project will explore drug-cell interactions for promising repurposing candidates using powerful modern analytical techniques of Infrared spectroscopy and Raman microspectroscopy which are capable of providing rich biochemical information.
An understanding of how repurposed drugs behave at a cellular level will contribute to the future of drug discovery for childhood ATRT, with the aim of providing less toxic treatment options for use in the clinic.
Grant Award – Studentship 2020-2021
Funding Award – £2000
Funding Awarded to – Dr Josh Lehr
Research Location – University of Salford
Lead Researcher – Dr Josh Lehr
0161 295 3864 