Lochlan Fennell
Bowel Cancer Research
‘Investigating the effects of the BRAF mutation of the colorectal cancer epigenome’
QIMR Berghofer, QLD
Awarded 2018
Co-funded by Rotary District 9650 Bowelscan
“I am particularly interested in how cancer cells evolve over time and hijack these epigenetic processes to promote growth and bypass signals that normally initiate programmed cell death and senescence.”
Researcher Profile
Lochlan Fennell is a PhD Candidate at the University of Queensland and Basic Research Scientist based in the Conjoint Gastroenterology Laboratory at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. Lochlan completed his Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2017 and began his Doctor Of Philosophy thereafter.
Lochlan uses genome-scale technologies to interrogate the role of the epigenome in colorectal carcinogenesis.
Project Summary
Bowel cancer is a disease that will affect over 17,000 Australian’s in 2018 and result in > 4,000 deaths. Bowel cancers arise in two main molecular pathways. The conventional pathway, which is initiated through activation of the WNT signal and progresses to cancer via TP53 mutation and the adoption of gross chromosomal instability, accounts for approximately 75% of colorectal cancers. The remainder arise in the setting of the serrated neoplasia pathway. Cancers of the serrated neoplasia pathway have strong MAPK activation resulting from oncogenic BRAFV600E mutations.
The BRAFV600E mutation in serrated neoplasia is strongly associated with aberrant, genome scale methylation at CpG islands (CIMP). CIMP results in methylation of the promoter regions of tumour suppressor genes and reduces transcript expression. The precise role of the BRAF mutation in CIMP and remodelling the epigenome is currently unclear. In this project, I will use genome-scale methodologies to comprehensively assess the epigenome of bowel cancer, and aim to identify clinical markers that may be used to infer risk of developing colorectal cancer, and inform colonoscopic screening
Supervisors: Associate Professor Vicki Whitehall & Professor Barbara Leggett