Emelie Shepherd

Research interests

The integrated stress response (ISR) allows cells to adapt to environmental stressors through selective translational reprogramming. Although the signalling pathways mediating ISR activation are well established, RNA-level mechanisms that regulate this process remain poorly defined. RNA modifications have well-characterised roles in RNA stability and translation; however, their contribution to regulating ISR signalling remains largely unexplored.

My DPhil project aims to investigate the layers of regulation at which RNA modifications may act across cancer types, particularly in response to intrinsic tumour stressors.

Background

I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology and a Master’s by Research in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. There I explored Hippo pathway signalling in cancer stem cells with the Gram Hansen group, and investigated the conformation-specific binding mode of novel Src inhibitor eCF506 with the Unciti-Broceta group. I joined Ludwig Oxford in 2022 as a Research Assistant in the Kriaucionis group, where I optimised the Tet-assisted pic-borane sequencing (TAPS) method to explore differential DNA methylation in oesophageal cancer.