Jade-Ellen Brown

Research interests

Diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) are aggressive paediatric brain tumours with limited effective treatment options. One major challenge is their highly diffuse and invasive nature, which contributes to progression and therapeutic resistance.  Previously, the Pathania lab developed a number of models reflecting different genetic subtypes of the disease. These models recapitulated human disease and exhibited diverse patterns of tumour cell invasion, thus providing a valuable platform to investigate the mechanisms underpinning tumour dissemination and colonisation across different regions of the central nervous system. Building on this foundation, with use of single-cell and spatial transcriptomic approaches, my research aims to characterise the molecular differences between primary tumours and both locally and distally disseminated lesions along the craniospinal axis. Through this work, I aim to identify mechanisms which contribute to invasive disease. We hope that with these insights, we may uncover therapeutically exploitable methods of targeting invasive disease in DMG.

Background

I received my BSc from the University of Nottingham, where I conducted my dissertation project on the effect of modulating VEGF-A splicing on endothelial cell migration under Professor David Bates. Following this, I completed an MRes in Cancer Biology at Imperial College London, where I undertook two research projects. The first, under Dr. Alexis Barr, which investigated the regulation of cell cycle entry in breast cancer, and the second, conducted at the Institute of Cancer Research under Dr. Rachael Natrajan, investigated the effects of splicing factor mutations on breast cancer therapy resistance.