Program Overview

Introduction to the PhD Program

The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) offers a PhD program in the field of cancer research, specifically focusing on the genetic susceptibility and prediction of early-onset breast cancer in diverse populations.

Program Overview

The program is part of the Marie Skodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks initiative, which aims to advance early and hereditary breast cancer research by identifying unique risk factors and developing innovative tools for early detection and risk stratification.

Project Background

About 20% of breast cancers in Western countries occur in women under 50, with 5-10% attributed to inherited pathogenic variants in genes such as BRCA1, BRCA2, ATM, and others. The project aims to develop and validate multi-ancestry polygenic risk scores (PRS) for breast cancer across age groups, with a focus on early-onset disease.

Project Aims

The project has two main aims:

• Develop and validate multi-ancestry polygenic risk scores (PRS) for breast cancer across age groups, with a focus on early-onset disease, both overall and by major subtypes.
• Evaluate joint associations of PRS and pathogenic variants in high and moderate risk genes across age groups, with a focus on early-onset disease.

Research Proposal

The study design involves an international genome-wide association study using data from the Confluence Project, which integrates genetic and phenotypic data from over 300,000 breast cancer cases and 300,000 controls across diverse ancestries.

Data Sources

The project will leverage large-scale individual-level and summary-level data from the Confluence Project.

Analyses

Analyses will include development and validation of multi-ancestry PRS for overall and subtype-specific breast cancer, with a particular focus on early-onset disease.

Impact

The project aims to enable more precise identification of younger women who could benefit from earlier screening or risk-reducing interventions, and to enhance understanding of the biological drivers of early-onset breast cancer.

Research Setting

The PhD student will form part of the HER-CARE MSCA Doctoral Network, joining an international cohort of 15 PhD researchers focused on hereditary and early-onset breast cancer.

Candidate Profile

Applicants should have a Master's degree in Epidemiology, Genetics, Biostatistics, Data Science, or a related field, or equivalent experience in these areas.

Funding Details

The candidate will receive a monthly salary of Euros 4917, which includes both a living allowance and a mobility allowance, for a duration of 36 months. Additionally, candidates with a family may be eligible for a monthly family allowance of Euros 380.

Eligibility

Only applicants who satisfy the mobility rule are eligible to apply: Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the UK for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.

Starting Date

The starting date will be before July 1, 2026.

Secondments

The student will undertake a five-month secondment at John Hopkins University in the USA and a three-month secondment at PHG Foundation in Cambridge, UK.

Literature References

A list of literature references is provided, including studies on breast cancer risk, polygenic risk scores, and genetic associations.

Download PhD Briefing PDF Document

A PDF document summarizing the PhD program is available for download.