Imaging New Classes of Antibody Therapies for Targeting Folate Receptor-alpha in Cancer

This PhD project is part of a CRUK-funded Discovery Programme Foundation Award. The successful candidate will be part of two multidisciplinary teams working on developing and imaging therapeutic antibodies in the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences. The project focuses on applying radionuclide imaging, primarily PET imaging, to interrogate the distribution of different classes of therapeutic antibodies targeting the cancer-associated antigen folate receptor-alpha. The research aims to develop new folate receptor-alpha-targeted radiotherapeutic antibody conjugates based on IgG antibodies with enhanced/optimised IgG Fc domains. Students will be trained in antibody production, radiochemistry methods, in vitro methods to characterise new immunoconjugates, in vivo models of cancer, and preclinical PET/CT imaging. The successful candidate will work across two multidisciplinary and highly collaborative groups at King's College London, both embedded in Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals.