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Miss Kathryn Hussey MBioSci (Hons)

Postgraduate Research Student in Biological Sciences

Kathryn Hussey is a Postgraduate Research Student in the School of Biological Sciences, studying towards a PhD.

Kathryn graduated in 2018 from her integrated Masters degree in Biomedical Sciences with First Class Honours from the University of Southampton. Her masters dissertation was completed in the Siddle Lab Group investigating MHC class I expression by two contagious cancers (DFT1 and DFT2) in Tasmanian devils, and she was able to continue work on this project as a Research Assistant. In her PhD, Kathryn is continuing her interest in Cancer Immunology through further investigation into MHC class I expression by tumour cells in ‘non-self’ cancers and their role in immune evasion.

Academic Qualifications

2019-Present: PhD in Biological Sciences. University of Southampton, UK.

2014-2018: Integrated Masters in Biomedical Sciences (MBioSci). University of Southampton, UK.

Positions Held

2018-2019: Research Assistant, Siddle Lab Group. University of Southampton, UK.

Research

Contact

Research interests

My PhD research is investigating expression of MHC class I molecules and their role in immune evasion by ‘non-self’ cancers.

MHC class I expression is known to be altered in numerous cancers to avoid detection by the immune system. This is particularly important in cancers where the tumour cells have originated from an individual other than the host (‘non-self’ cancers), as the immune system should recognise the cells as foreign due to a differing MHC class I genotype and peptide presentation, exerting a selective pressure for the tumour cells to modify their MHC class I expression.

My project is exploring how MHC class I expression is modified in two contagious cancers in Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) – DFT1 and DFT2 – and a cancer originating from trophoblasts, choriocarcinoma, in humans, and how this is involved in immune evasion.

PhD supervision: Dr Hannah Siddle (Biological Sciences), Dr Edd James (Medicine), Dr Emma Reeves (Medicine)

PhD Research: Investigating the role of MHC class I molecules in immune evasion by tumour cells

Funding: The Gerald Kerkut Charitable Trust & University of Southampton VC Presidential Scholarship

Research group

Molecular and Cellular Biosciences

Affiliate research groups

Cancer Sciences Research group, Institute for Life Sciences

Miss Kathryn Hussey
School of Biological Sciences
Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences
Life Sciences Building 85
University of Southampton
Highfield Campus
Southampton
SO17 1BJ

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