MrJake Symington

I am the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science MB-PhD student in Neuro-Oncology working with Dr Nelofer Syed, Dr Elizabeth Want and Professor Timothy Ebbels. I work within the Department of Brain Sciences and the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science centre.

The aim of my PhD is to use a multi-omics approach to investigate immune microenvironment changes following arginine deprivation and radiation therapy in ASS-positive Glioblastoma. I am particularly interested in immunometabolism in Cancer.

I am also actively involved in teaching and have a keen interest in patient and public involvement (PPI). More recently, I have become involved in the Department of Brain Sciences LGBTQ Allies Network which aims to improve awareness and visibility for the LGBTQ community within the department alongside the wider LGBTQ STEM community. My interview for the LGBTQ Brains blog can be found in my social media links.

Background
I study Medicine at Imperial College London and was awarded my intercalated BSc with First Class Honours in Medical Sciences with Cancer Frontiers in 2020. This subsequently lead to my PhD project after which I will return to medical training for the final two years. I was also previously awarded an Alzheimer’s Society Undergraduate Award which allowed me to undertake a research project in the lab of Dr Angela Hodges at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. During this project, I was investigating rare genetic variants associated with risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease.