Hannah Etheridge

BMRC Student Profiles

Email: he4811@hallam.shu.ac.uk
Research Centre: BMRC
Research Group: Cancer Research
PhD Thesis Title: The role of cooling in protecting from cancer chemotherapy drug-induced neuropathic pain.
Director of Studies: Dr Nik Georgopoulos
Supervisor: Dr Caroline Dalton

SUMMARY

I completed my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences in Molecular and Microbiology at Leeds Beckett University in 2020; during this I received an undergraduate scholarship from the Microbiology Society. After graduating, I completed my MSc in Applied Biomedical Science Research in 2021 and I received the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence.

During both my undergraduate and master’s degrees, I gained laboratory experience in molecular techniques including using tCRISPRi in E. coli to assess gene essentiality to inform computational models for drug discovery.

During my master’s degree, I experienced the loss of a family member due to pancreatic cancer. This gave me the determination to seek a PhD with direct cancer patient impact whilst allowing me to develop my laboratory research skills. This led me to my current research area, cell biology, cancer research, and cancer patient care working with Paxman at Sheffield Hallam University.

RESEARCH

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common side effect of chemotherapy that has negative and lifelong impacts on patients’ quality-of-life. Therapeutic hypothermia represents a promising approach to prevent CIPN in clinical studies.

The project aims to establish relevant in vitro models to study the mechanism by which chemotherapy agents cause cytotoxicity in neuronal cells. Using these in vitro models, the research will investigate the ability of cooling to prevent drug-mediated cytotoxicity observed in CIPN.

The work aims to not only elucidate the precise mechanisms of CIPN development in neuronal cells, but also inform the development of a novel limb-cooling device by Paxman (the world’s leader in medical cooling devices) for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.