Emma Deas

Completion date: 2005

Division: Breast Cancer Research

Emma works at the prestigious Institute of Neurology (London) as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow specialising in Parkinson's disease. She graduated from The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at the ICR in 2005.

With an honours degree in Developmental Biology from Edinburgh University, Emma was well placed to add to her scientific knowledge.

"The main reason that I was attracted to the ICR was the PhD project itself – it covered the main scientific area I wanted to explore further," says Emma.

During her PhD, Emma worked on the identification and characterisation of the KERES kinase as a novel pro-apoptotic protein involved in the REAPER cell death pathway. REAPER is a pro-apoptotic protein which induces cell death by inhibiting the protective effect of Inhibitor of Apoptosis proteins (IAPs) during caspase activation. Caspases are the central executioners of apoptosis in most, if not all, multicellular organisms. Deregulation of caspase activation is a potentially catastrophic event, which is thought to contribute to neurodegenerative disorders, autoimmune diseases and cancer.

"Given the irreversible nature of caspase-mediated proteolysis, initial caspase activation and activity must be tightly regulated to prevent the inappropriate initiation of cell death," explains Emma.

It wasn’t just the biology that impressed. "The ICR covers more than just medical science – the range of disciplines studied is huge! Chemistry, physics and even engineering are all specialties at the ICR – the mix of academic minds is really stimulating. Having worked at two additional 'Institutes' since I left the ICR, I have yet to work in such a well equipped research establishment where the only thing holding you back is the number of hours in the day!"

Once at the ICR, Emma realised that it wasn’t just about working hard. "I really made some friends for life during my time at the ICR. The relatively small student population and friendly staff made my PhD enjoyable and fun. I’m still in contact with a lot of people from the ICR and still ask for advice from a couple of the lab heads because their science is so sound."

And for Emma, making a difference was more than just a job – it was about helping future generations too. "Unfortunately, I lost my grandfather to cancer, but in a way this made my PhD project even more interesting. I was also inspired to fundraise money for the ICR by taking part in the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Moonwalk."