Pancreatology PhD / MPhil / MD

Research themes

Our research themes include:

• Clinical trials aimed at determining the overall benefits of current treatments and evaluating the benefits of newly emerging treatments for pancreatic cancer. The Division of Surgery and Oncology is the centre for large European pancreas studies including the ESPAC clinical trials aimed at examining the benefit of chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy (the combined use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy) in the treatment of patients who have undergone surgery to remove pancreas cancer tissue. There are major clinical trials in advanced pancreatic cancer (such as Gem-Cap) and developmental trials focusing on new biological agents such as the use of targeted super-antibodies and gene therapy. In the palliative care setting we are at the forefront of assessing and optimising novel methods of symptom and pain control. These and other trials that are available to patients at Liverpool will hopefully improve our understanding of the currently available treatments for pancreas cancer

• Development and Co-ordination of the world's largest collection of families with Hereditary Pancreatitis and Familial Pancreas Cancer. Researchers in the department are currently working with these families to identify the underlying genetic cause of cancer in patients where the disease is inherited. In young patients with Hereditary Pancreatitis and Idiopathic Pancreatitis we are trialling novel treatments to inhibit or minimize the frequency or severity of the attacks

• Identification of novel drug targets or diagnostic markers for pancreatic cancer. In an attempt to identify suitable drug targets or diagnostic markers for pancreatic adenocarcinoma, we have begun a systematic comparison of protein expression profiles from highly purified specimens of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and corresponding normal tissue. We have established the feasibility of the approach of purification of normal and cancer cells of pancreas by laser capture microdissection followed by visualisation of proteins by two dimensional gel electrophoresis and have identified several proteins whose expression is abnormally high or abnormally low in pancreatic cancer cells. Validation and follow-up of these proteins is ongoing

• Increasing the efficacy of currently used chemotherapeutic drugs for treating pancreatic cancer. Given the chemo-resistant nature of pancreatic cancer, we are investigating whether combining chemotherapy with other forms of therapy will more potently kill pancreatic cancer cells. We grow pancreatic cancer cells in the laboratory and investigate what factors make them more susceptible to drugs that could be offered to patients. In this way novel combinations of drugs have been identified which are more effective than the drugs used separately, for example inhibitors of the protein Hsp90 increase the sensitivity of the cancer cells to the commonly used chemotherapeutic 5-fluorouracil.

Research interests

• Clinical studies conducted with the intent to advance therapies to the clinic or develop principles for application of therapeutics to human disease
• Non-human or non-clinical studies conducted with the intent to advance therapies to the clinic or develop principles for application of therapeutics to human disease
• Investigations in humans which define the biology of disease and provide the scientific foundation for the development of new or improved therapies for human disease
• Any clinical trial of a therapy that was initiated based on the above
• The biology-chemistry “bridge”.

Training

PhD students can take taught modules - on either a formal basis with exams taken and a record of completion generated or less formally. Commonly, students use the opportunity to upskill in areas like bioinformatics and statistics, but modules on defined areas of biology are also available. A wide variety of further development opportunities are available from the PGR Development Hub. 

Facilities

The Institutes research infrastructure is designed to give researchers access to world class facilities in the best possible environment.

Our facilities give us the ability to drive biomedical research from patient samples to the laboratory bench and vice versa from newly generated drug compounds into clinical trials. The departments of the institute have the following facilities and resources:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Centre for Antimicrobial Pharmacodynamics
• Centre for Drug Safety Science
• Health Data Science Network
• Centre for Preclinical Imaging
• Clinical Trials Research Centre
• Harris-Wellbeing Preterm Birth Research Centre
• Liverpool Bio-Innovation Hub (LBIH) Biobank
• Liverpool Cancer Trials Unit
• MRC North West Hub for Trials Methodology Research
• North West Cancer Research Centre – University of Liverpool
• Pancreas Biomedical Research Unit
• UK Experimental Arthritis Treatment Centre for Children
• Wolfson Centre for Personalised Medicine.

Postgraduate researchers also benefit from flexible access to world-class equipment and expertise through the Shared Research Facilities provided.

The fees below reflect one year of study during the 2024/25 academic year

The fees stated in the table above exclude potential research support fees also known as ‘bench fees’. You will be notified of any fee which may apply in your offer letter.

* Please note that if you are undertaking a PhD within the Faculty of Science and Engineering the fee you pay, Band A or Band B, will reflect the nature of your research project. Some research projects incur a higher fee than others e.g. if you are required to undertake laboratory work. You will be informed of the fee for your programme in your offer letter.

^ Self-funded, full-time international students studying a PhD programme classified as Band A will receive a £2,000 reduction in their fees for the first year only.