In conversation with Dr Shalini Rao

Hi Shalini, congratulations on your award! Please could you tell me a little bit about the focus of your research?

Pancreatic cancer is one of the cancers with a poor five-year survival rate and we really need to change something about this. For a long time, pancreatic cancer has been understudied, which means that we still don’t completely understand the molecular players guiding this disease. My research is focused on trying to understand the molecular mechanisms surrounding early pancreatic cancer, with a special emphasis on proteins that bind to DNA called transcription factors.

How are you planning to use your Collaboration Catalyst Award?

I am delighted to be able to collaborate with a pioneering research team at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. This collaboration comes at a pivotal time in my research, supported by my Pancreatic Cancer UK Career Foundation Fellowship, as I investigate key genes involved in pancreatic cancer development.

The group at the Dana-Farber has been at the forefront of cancer research, leveraging advanced omics-based technologies to gain insights into cancer progression. Their work has been instrumental in developing a better understanding of the molecular players across cancer types, including identifying subtypes and developing methods to monitor disease progression and treatment response.

Thanks to the support of this Collaboration Catalyst Award, I will have the invaluable opportunity to visit this research group and gain expertise in their innovative techniques. My aim is to adapt these powerful methods to study early-stage pancreatic cancer, with the ultimate goal of advancing early detection strategies. This collaboration will not only enhance my research but also foster a lasting partnership focused on driving innovations in pancreatic cancer research.

What was it that inspired you to apply for a Collaboration Catalyst Award?

I’m an early career researcher and I think one of the challenges at this stage is to establish my research niche. One of the foundations for this is to be able to talk to like-minded researchers, explore novel technologies and identify fundamental research questions to explore. I was looking for support to go to a specific lab to help broaden my research interests. This Collaboration Catalyst Award is ideal because it will allow me to do exactly this. I hope that the expertise that I will be able to gather and the exposure that I will have by visiting the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and learning from researchers who are using a different technology in their work will really help to move my research forward.

How do you feel having being granted this award?

I am so thrilled to have received this award. It will allow me to spend time with the team in Boston to get this specific expertise that I can bring back to use in my research. It makes a very big difference, so thank you very much.

How will building this collaboration support your research and your career?

Fundamentally with this award I really want to be able to widen my research network outside of the UK. I think sometimes as an early career researcher it can be difficult to establish new connections and I was initially a bit underconfident. But you have to put yourself out there and talk to people and then it’s worth it in the end.

What impact could this research have for people with pancreatic cancer in the long term?

It is very early days and at the moment we are just laying the foundations, but ultimately I hope to be able to use these novel techniques to develop a blood-based method to help stratify patients. For example, to find those patients who are at higher risk of getting pancreatic cancer and monitor them to look for signs of early disease.

As a researcher, I really want to be able to make an impact with my research. I want to be able to impact the life of patients who are who are suffering from pancreatic cancer, if not immediately, at least in the next 10 years. I want every step I take to be meaningful, and I really value all the funding and support that I have received from Pancreatic Cancer UK.