Frazer Institute

Frazer Institute Summer Research projects - 2027

  1. Modelling hepatic ILC1 development and function in vitro
  2. What do clinicians actually want from digital tools? Understanding the case for a modular clinical platform
  3. The Mitochondria Strike Back: How a Novel Cancer Drug Rewires Neuroblastoma Energy Production
  4. Stem cell therapy effects on mitochondrial dysfunction in the fetal growth restricted piglet brain
  1. Effectiveness of Intradermal Hepatitis B Vaccine Boosters in Vaccine Non-Responders
  2. Arming natural killer cells to attack hard to cure solid cancers
  3. Understanding transcriptional regulation of antiviral CD8+ T cells

6. Arming natural killer cells to attack hard to cure solid cancers

Hours of engagement and delivery mode

Hours: 30 hours per week, Monday to Friday, usually 9am to 4pm. Some flexibility is possible around exams or other commitments.

Mode: On campus.

Location: Frazer Institute, Translational Research Institute, 37 Kent Street, Woolloongabba QLD 4102.

Dates: 11 January to 19 February 2027.

Project description

Our laboratory is working out how to make NK cells resistant to that environment. We ask which activation signals, cytokine combinations and engineering strategies produce NK cells that stay functional and keep killing under tumour like conditions. This work feeds directly into IMPACT, the immunocellular manufacturing facility we are establishing at the Frazer Institute to move these therapies towards early-stage clinical trials.

Over six weeks you will help answer one piece of this question. You will generate NK cells under different activation conditions and test how well they kill solid tumour cell lines and three dimensional tumour spheroids, which mimic a real tumour far better than cells grown flat on plastic. The data you produce will feed into the group's ongoing work

Expected outcomes and deliverables

You will work alongside a postdoctoral researcher or a senior PhD student on a defined set of experiments. You will isolate primary NK cells from healthy donor blood and expand them in culture. You will set up different activation conditions, then run co-culture killing assays against solid tumour cell lines and three dimensional spheroid models. You will use multiparameter flow cytometry to measure NK cell phenotype, activation markers and viability, and live cell imaging to follow killing over time. You will analyse your own data, prepare figures and work out what the results mean. Alongside the bench work you will keep an electronic laboratory notebook, take part in weekly lab meetings and journal club, and present your findings at the end of the placement.

Suitable for

Students in biomedical science, biotechnology, science, pharmacy or medicine, ideally in second year or later, who have completed coursework in cell biology and have some immunology background. Previous wet laboratory or tissue culture experience is useful but not required

Primary supervisor

Associate Professor Fernando Guimaraes

Em f.guimaraes@uq.edu.au

Instructions to applicants

Students may contact the supervisor before applying