معرفی
Dr. Philip Dunne is a Professor at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute (trading as The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research) within the School of Cancer Sciences. He leads the research group focused on Phenotypic Plasticity in Colorectal Cancer, working across the Glasgow and Belfast research networks with Queen's University Belfast. His research program bridges computational biology and experimental cancer research, with a focus on understanding the phenotypic landscape of colorectal cancer beyond traditional genetic models.
Dr. Dunne's research interests center on developing pathway-derived subtyping systems (PDS) for colorectal cancer that reveal subtle phenotypes related to epithelial differentiation and lineage maturity. His work moves beyond the established Vogelstein genetic model by examining how individual cells contribute to the overall phenotypic landscape in human tumors. He utilizes bulk, single-cell, and spatial transcriptomics approaches to define holistic phenotypic maps of tumor landscapes and cellular communication networks associated with cancer development and progression. A distinctive aspect of his work is the development of 'no-programming-required' publicly available data apps that democratize molecular data analysis by removing programming barriers.
His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on phenotypic heterogeneity in colorectal cancer, tumor microenvironment interactions, molecular subtyping systems, and developing computational tools for biological discovery. These works reveal consistent themes of phenotypic plasticity, cellular communication networks, and the development of clinically relevant classification systems that can predict treatment response and patient outcomes.
Dr. Dunne mentors multiple postdoctoral researchers including Dr. Raheleh Amirkhah, Dr. Sudhir Malla, and Dr. Natalie Fisher, as well as PhD students Courtney Bull, Jessica Edwards, and Ryan Byrne. His laboratory actively collaborates with other research groups at the institute, particularly the Sansom lab working on colorectal cancer and Wnt signaling, creating a strong network for integrated cancer research.
The Dunne laboratory operates across multiple research sites including the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow and Queen's University Belfast, facilitating a comprehensive approach to colorectal cancer research that integrates computational analysis with experimental validation. The lab's focus on developing user-friendly data analysis tools has created valuable resources for the broader cancer research community.
