The expertise of our lab is in studying tumour heterogeneity from a phenotypic, genomic, and functional perspective by combining advanced clonal tracking systems such as expressed lentiviral-based cellular barcoding with single cell sequencing platforms to understand the relationship between phenotype, genotype and function of malignant tumour cells. We apply these methods in a robustly quantitative manner to study cancer stem cell biology on a clonal level and at single cell resolution.

We are interested in the molecular mechanisms which govern clonal fitness and long-term regenerative activity with the aim of identifying which malignant cell types within a tumour are ultimately responsible for disease progression. Furthermore, we are probing the mechanisms which allow these clones to resist treatment to identify genetic susceptibilities which can be used to overcome treatment resistance.

For our work, we use primary patient material or models derived from these materials, such as patient-derived tumour xenografts, or patient-derived tumour organoids, to study the disease as close as possible to that of the patient. We work closely with a strong network of collaborators both nationally and internationally.