Dr. Sophie Sneddon, PhD

The ability to identify a range of potential tumour-specific mutated neo-antigens that can be targeted by clinical immunotherapy approaches is a recent and exciting development made possible, in part, by advances in high-throughput next generation sequencing and computational biological approaches. My research team has recently identified a novel neo-antigen in a murine model of malignant mesothelioma (MM), an asbestos-induced cancer affecting the mesothelial cells of the pleural and peritoneal cavities that is associated with exposure to asbestos. As treatment of MM is limited and survival is 9-12 months post-diagnosis, the identification of a human neo-antigen is important and may form the basis of functional studies that could lead to personalized treatment options for the disease.

My project aims to utilize next generation sequencing technologies to identify MM tumour-specific somatic mutations that could lead to mutated neo-antigens in a cohort of thirty human and fifteen murine samples. Specifically, I will utilize the expertise of the Holt Lab at the GSC in order to analyse RNA sequence data produced for the human cohort in order to identify potential neo-antigens, examine expression of genes of interest, including immune-associated genes, TCR and HLA expression as well as gene fusion events.