Amanda Wicki

Research interests

A key focus of the lab is the development and evaluation of novel therapeutic cancer vaccines to induce potent CTL responses to treat tumours and testing their combination with other therapies to boost anti-tumour immunity and improve efficacy. Many novel drugs targeting epigenetic gene regulation mechanisms are currently being tested in the clinic for treatment of cancer. In my DPhil project, I will investigate the role of epigenetic gene regulation in anti-tumour immune responses to enhance cancer immunotherapy.

Background

I completed my undergrad studies in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Basel, Switzerland, which I prolonged with a one-year research internship at F. Hoffmann-La Roche, at the Analytical Development Department for biologics. There, I had my first experience to work with checkpoint inhibitors. I continued my studies with a research-focused master program in Drug Sciences at the University of Basel. Driven to understand the complexity of cancer, I worked as a student research assistant at the department of biomedicine. My research focused on the mechanisms of JAK-STAT signalling in myeloproliferative neoplasms and their targeting. To combine my interests in oncology and immunology, I joined the Ludwig Institute in Oxford in 2020 to complete my master’s thesis project, where I investigated how to enhance cancer vaccine efficacy through epigenetic inhibitors. In October 2021, I started my DPhil in Clinical Medicine as a Berrow Foundation Lord Florey Scholar.