College of Science & Engineering

School/College	MVLS
Email	Aula.Ammar@glasgow.ac.uk
Telephone	0141 330 8379
Twitter	@AulaAmmar1

Research vision

I am a cancer biologist who has been working for few years in breast and ovarian cancers trying to understand the biology and find new ways to treat cancer or stop its metastasis.

I believe that developing new targeted therapies based on our understanding of cancer biology forms the future of cancer treatment.  One day, every cancer patient will have the opportunity to receive the most effective personalised treatment to improve the clinical outcome and quality of life.

My previous research focused on understanding mechanisms controlling breast cancer metastasis through lymphatic vessels; such metastasis indicates poor survival. I also tried to study the effect of immune cell interaction with breast cancer cells on response to radiotherapy. Currently, I am trying to specifically block an inflammatory cytokine known as interleukin-6 in an uncommon type of ovarian cancer called ovarian clear cell carcinoma. I am interested in understanding the immunologic and metabolic changes in cancer cells following this treatment and how we can further use the new findings to discover novel drug targets. 

Expectations from collaboration

• Shares the interest of understanding cancer immunology and metabolism.
• Has the expertise in cancer metabolomics and shares the interest to test novel inhibitors of metabolic targets.  
• Gives and expects trust

Key Skills

Lab skills:

• Cancer cell culture techniques,
• macrophage polarisation,
• primary blood and lymphatic endothelial cell culture,
• immunohistochemistry,
• large patient data analysis (e.g., survival analyses, prognostic significance and multivariate analysis using SPSS),
• adhesion and migration assays,
• multi-colour flow cytometry.

Personal skills:

• Time management,
• Communication skills,
• Team focused,
• Personal resilience,
• Collaborative skills

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First published: 7 May 2019