Amanda Wicki

Research interests

A key focus of the lab is the development and evaluation of novel therapeutic cancer vaccines to induce potent cytotoxic T lymphocyte (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. For my master’s thesis project, I will investigate the role of epigenetic gene regulation in anti-tumour immune responses to enhance cancer immunotherapy.

Background

I completed my undergraduate studies in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Basel, 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 of working with checkpoint inhibitors. I continued my studies with a research-focused master’s programme 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, in parallel to my lectures. 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 to complete my master’s thesis project.