Aleksandra Janowska awarded Postgraduate Student Thesis Prize

Aleksandra Janowska has won this year’s Postgraduate Student Thesis Prize. The Prize is awarded each year to a student who has undertaken an outstanding project to the highest standards during the course of their PhD study at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.

Aleksanda Janowska completed her PhD in the Narita Group, supervised by Prof Masashi Narita. During her studies, Janowska studied the effect of a dose of a cancer-causing gene, known as the RAS oncogene, on cell biology and identified that its impact depended on both the level of its activation and the type of cell being affected. Understanding the spectrum of responses of different cells to the RAS oncogene unlocks new avenues for studying the role of cell identity in the origin of cancer.

Janowska’s research was a major contribution to, and continues on from, the Narita Group’s Nature (Chan et. al, 2024) study, which found that the RAS oncogene caused some cells to become senescent (when cells stop dividing but do not die), whereas others only slowed down their cell cycle. In mouse models this had important consequences on whether the immune system removed the senescent cells or allowed them to become a tumour.

In her research, Janowska looked at RAS activation in retinal pigmented epithelium cells, a layer of cells supporting the rod cells in the eye. She found that the RAS oncogene triggered the activation of genes that weren’t typically found in these cells, as well as developmental genes. This finding prompts further study of the role of cell identity in the origin of cancer. The ability of these cells to acquire new functionality also has potential implications for the regeneration of the eye. This is a possible useful avenue of investigation for the treatment of degenerative disorders.

Reflecting on her time at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, Aleksandra Janowska said:

“The PhD has been an incredibly fulfilling journey – challenging at times, but it has allowed me to grow as both a scientist and a person. I have had an incredible time working in the CI, both thanks to the Core Facilities which support us on a daily basis and the community of peers and mentors. I am honoured to have been awarded the Prize and share my research at our annual retreat. The scientific rigour and the supportive nature of the Institute is something I hope to carry into my future, continuing my research in cancer biology.”

Prof Masashi Narita, who supervised the project, said: “Aleksandra has been an asset to our research group, and this Prize rightly recognises her PhD research as a timely and impactful contribution to the field. In addition to her scientific rigour, I would like to commend Aleksandra’s initiative and community leadership, all of which make me confident of the bright future ahead of her.”