Dr Thomas Yip awarded Career Foundation Fellowship from Pancreatic Cancer UK to investigate tumour-microenvironment cues in early pancreatic cancer
Dr Thomas Yip, a researcher in Tim Halim’s Group at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, has been awarded the Career Foundation Fellowship by Pancreatic Cancer UK. His fellowship will focus on how interactions between cells within the tumour microenvironment drive growth and progression during the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancer types, with a very poor five‑year survival rate largely due to diagnosis occurring at advanced stages of the disease. Emerging evidence suggests that significant changes within the tumour microenvironment may arise much earlier than previously appreciated, although the mechanisms behind these changes are still not well understood.
The awarded project, titled “Fibroblast-immune cell niche dynamics during pancreatic neoplastic progression,” builds on Thomas’s postgraduate studies exploring how communication between Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) and fibroblasts influences cell behaviour in the pancreas. Through this new work, he aims to further dissect these cellular interactions to identify new therapeutic opportunities for the disease, particularly those that could intervene in tumour development in the early stages.