The blood brain barrier: Drug discovery’s biggest challenge
I’m Jo, a PhD student in the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrated Biology. I took my undergraduate and MRes degree’s at Cardiff University, in Neuroscience and Biosciences (Psychopharmacology) respectively.
I then worked in a drug discovery institute, looking at receptor pharmacology, which led me to the PhD at Liverpool. In my free time, I love hiking, running, bouldering and travelling as much as I can!
My research
Specifically, I am looking the interaction between the blood brain barrier (BBB) and glioblastoma (GBM). GBM is the most common primary malignant brain tumour, but current treatment outcomes are very poor. There has been no progress in new treatments for the past 5-10, which can be attributed to, in part, the challenge of delivering drugs across the blood-brain barrier.
Currently, the in vivo models of the BBB and GBM are very limited, and rely on rodent models to investigate the basic biology and drug delivery. I am funded by the NC3Rs to develop a replacement model, to establish a novel BBB/GBM model and reduce the reliance on these animal models.
My next steps and beyond
I am coming to the end of the first year of my PhD, so I am focusing on my research in the near future! After my PhD, I would love to stay in the drug discovery field, whether that be in academia or industry. I really enjoy science communication, so would like to be involved in more science-related public engagement work.
My 3-minute thesis
The 3MT experience showed me how much I enjoy science communication, and how important it is to make science more accessible – both within academia and a non-scientific audience!