Our 2025 Career Acceleration Fellows
In our June newsletter, we briefly spotlighted our 2025 Career Acceleration Fellows. This month, we're taking a closer look at each researcher's project and the difference they hope to make.
Dr Laura Martínez Escardó - Reactivating mitochondrial cell death in prostate cancer: mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities
Dr Laura Martínez Escardó completed her Master’s degree in Biomedicine at the University of Barcelona, followed by a PhD at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Since 2021, Laura has been a postdoc at the CRUK Scotland Institute in Glasgow, working on making prostate cancer cells more vulnerable to specific treatments.
Laura's project will investigate whether targeting the intracellular machinery that inhibits mitochondrial-mediated cell death could be used as a therapy for treatment-resistant prostate cancer. This research could make a real difference for men whose prostate cancer has stopped responding to current treatments and could give them more options when they need it most.
Dr Jacky Leung: Discovery of redox mechanisms in castration-resistant prostate cancer
Dr Jacky Leung completed his PhD at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, focusing on how molecular mechanisms control the androgen receptor. After finishing his doctorate in 2019, Jacky has been a postdoc in Germany and more recently at The Institute of Cancer Research, London. Jacky’s research now centres on intracellular oxidative stress in prostate cancer.
Jacky’s fellowship will explore the chemical changes that occur in prostate cancer cells when they become resistant to hormone therapy, aiming to highlight new survival mechanisms. This research could help to keep hormone therapy working for longer, giving men a better quality of life and more time with their loved ones.
Dr Niamh McKeer: Treatment-resistant prostate cancer and calcium channels: unpacking mechanisms and unlocking therapeutic potential
Dr Niamh McKerr completed her PhD at Queen’s University Belfast, investigating whether calcium ion channels become active during hormone therapy – work that helped lay the foundations for her research today. Since completing her PhD in 2021, Niamh has been working as a postdoc, with her work embedded within the Ion Channels and Cancer programme in the McCloskey group at the Johnston Cancer Research Centre at Queen’s.
Niamh’s fellowship will centre on how calcium ion channels contribute to hormone therapy resistance and whether common blood pressure drugs can help to prevent this resistance from developing. This could potentially give men a safer, more effective way to stay one step ahead of their cancer.
Dr Shaun Scaramuzza: Investigating the role of ATM-loss in the evolution of lethal prostate cancer
Dr Shaun Scaramuzza completed his Master’s degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Liverpool, before going on to earn his PhD at the University of Birmingham. Since completing his PhD in 2022, Shaun has worked as a Research Associate and Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, focusing on the development of cutting‑edge tools to study DNA replication.
This grant will enable Shaun to investigate how prostate tumours with ATM faults develop, change, and become resistant to treatment. By identifying the key factors these specific tumours depend upon, Shaun's research could lead to smarter, more personalised treatment options for men with prostate cancer.
Our funding opportunities
If you're interested in our Career Acceleration Fellowship, or any of our other funding opportunities, you can learn more about the schemes we offer below.
