One of the most common post-translational modifications of proteins is glycosylation, the process by which short sugar chains are selectively added to specific protein residues, resulting in a huge number of glycoprotein variants (glycoforms). There is now overwhelming evidence that glycosylation changes during the development and progression of various malignancies. Altered glycosylation has been implicated in cancer, immune deficiencies, neurodegenerative diseases, hereditary disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Many clinical biomarkers in cancer are glycoproteins, such as CEA in colorectal cancer, CA125 in ovarian cancer, HER2 in breast cancer, PSA in prostate cancer and fetoprotein in liver cancer. Glycoproteomics is rapidly emerging as an important technique for biomarker discovery, and glycoproteins are expected to become increasingly important to the diagnosis and management of human diseases. Currently, monoclonal antibodies are playing a central role in enabling the detection of glycoprotein biomarkers using a variety of immunodiagnostic tests such as enzyme linked immunosorbant assays (ELISA). Nonetheless, monoclonal antibodies do have their own set of drawbacks that limit the commercialization of antibody sensing technology. They suffer from poor stability, need special handling and require a complicated, costly production procedure. More importantly, they lack specificity because they bind only to a small site on the biomarker (i.e. epitope) and are not able to discriminate, for instance, among different glycosylated proteins. The current antibody diagnostic technology has well recognized limitations regarding their accuracy and timeliness of disease diagnosis. This fellowship will focus on research into the means of developing a generic, robust, reliable and cost-effective alternative to monoclonal antibody technology. The fellowship aims to exploit concepts and tools from nanochemistry, supramolecular chemistry and molecular imprinting to provide highly innovative synthetic recognition platforms with high sensitivity and specificity for glycoproteins. Such novel type of platforms will make a profound and significant impact in the broad fields of biosensors and protein separation devices with applications in many areas such as biomedical diagnostics, pharmaceutical industry, defence and environmental monitoring. The proposed technology may open an untraveled path in the successful diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of therapeutic treatment for major diseases such as cancer, immune deficiencies, neurodegenerative diseases, hereditary disorders and cardiovascular diseases.

We will train cohorts of graduates from different scientific backgrounds together in a unique interdisciplinary programme that combines physical sciences, computer sciences and biomedicine and breaks down the boundaries between these disciplines. They will apply this interdisciplinary training to develop underpinning new physical science research to address three key UK healthcare challenges: - Rebuilding the ageing and diseased body - Understanding cardiovascular disease - Improving trauma and emergency medicine The research programme will be underpinned by a multi-disciplinary taught programme and enhanced by transferable and project management skills training, as well as Knowledge Transfer and Public Engagement of Science activities. The CDT builds on our four years experience of CDT training of physical scientists at the biomedical interface and harnesses the existing and dynamic research community of excellent physical scientists, distinguished for their ability to and commitment to research at the life science interface, together with a team of leading biomedical scientists and clinicians, with whom there are already established collaborations. This new CDT represents an evolution in our activities and new biomedical foci, while retaining the expertise, ethos and track record of promoting a change in culture at the Physical Science / Biomedicine interface, and of nurturing the next generation of researchers to develop the skills and experience required to explore new physical sciences for biology and healthcare, without the perceived cultural and language barriers. The CDT addresses an identified need from our industrial partners for PhD scientists trained at the interface with biology and medicine, and able to communicate and research across these disciplines, such that they are flexible and innovative workers who can move between projects and indeed disciplines as company priorities evolve and change. This need is reflected in the involvement in and commitment to our bid from our industrial partners. They will co-fund students, offer placements and site-visits, deliver lectures as part of the training and monitor and advise on the training programme. The programme will also benefit from public sector involvement including the Diamond Light Source, local hospitals and Thinktank Science Museum.