Jingqi is developing a microfluidic chip to study the how specific extracellular matrix components affect tumour cell behaviour during metastatic colonisation in the lung. She is co-supervised by Dr Paul Huang at the Institute of Cancer Research, where she will be characterising the extracellular matrix of secondary tumours and their microenvironment through proteomic analysis. Prior to this, Jingqi completed 3 years of medical school, inclusive of a BSc research year at Imperial College London, and will return to her medical degree upon completion of the PhD.

Brian joined the Au Lab as an MRes Cancer Technology candidate in January 2022. He will be investigating how immune cells recognise and interact with circulating tumour cells (CTCs) trapped within capillary beds. Specifically, exploring how PD-1/PDL-1 inhibitors influence the ability of immune cells to recognise and destroy CTCs, within an organ-on-chip microfluidic device. Before coming to Imperial College, Brian studied Biomedical Engineering at the University of Limerick, where he undertook industry placement at BD Research Centre Ireland, developing a whole blood enrichment instrument to be used in series with flow cytometry systems. During his undergraduate degree, Brian’s final year project involved designing, manufacturing, and testing a PDMS point-of-care microfluidic diagnostic device. The device used the principles of impedance spectroscopy to rapidly evaluate microfluidic droplets of bacterial samples both quantitatively and qualitatively. Thus, reducing the time of species identification compared to traditional clinical plating approaches.

Nader joined the Au Lab Bioengineering Group as a PhD Candidate in October, 2024, funded by a fellowship from the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre. He is co-supervised by Prof. George Hanna (Surgery and Cancer Department, Imperial College London) and Prof. Jessica Strid (Immunology, Imperial College London). His research focuses on optimising a microfluidic platform for two-dimensional cultures derived from three-dimensional patient-derived organoids to select and sort cancer-reactive immune cells for subsequent immune-3D organoid coculture. This system will be used to investigate the volatilome of the cancer-immune interaction, with the aim of refining and optimising a breath test for the early detection of oesophageal adenocarcinoma and understanding immune-derived volatile biomarkers. As an upper GI surgical trainee, Nader brings a clinical perspective to this interdisciplinary project. His work seeks to contribute to the development of innovative diagnostic approaches for oesophageal cancer.

Gauhar is a PhD student focusing on extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their applications as delivery agents. She holds a bachelor's and master’s degree in Molecular Biotechnology from TU Munich, with research experience in AI-driven protein engineering, and a thesis project at Harvard Medical School and Wyss Institute focused on microbial engineering. Gauhar is also passionate about biotech innovation, bio-entrepreneuship and enjoys tennis in her free time

Yarden joined the Au lab as PhD Candidate in July 2024, funded by the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre. She is co-supervised by Dr Sam Au (Bioengineering Department, Imperial College London), Prof Chris Lord, and Prof Andrew Tutt (Division of Breast Cancer Research, Institute of Cancer Research). Her research focuses on how functional and genomic profiling of circulating tumour cells can detect and characterise resistance mechanisms to homologous recombination deficiency‑targeted therapies, such as PARP inhibitors, in BRCA mutated breast cancer. Before joining the lab, Yarden completed three years of medical school and was awarded a BSc (Hons) in Medical Sciences with Cancer Frontiers. She will resume her medical degree upon completion of her PhD.