Student lands prestigious pharmacology scholarship

A Glasgow Caledonian University student has become the first at the institution to be awarded a prestigious British Pharmacological Society (BPS) PhD studentship, securing funding to pursue research into a new approach to treating blood cancer.

Chloe Christie, a fourth-year Biological Sciences student, has been named one of four inaugural recipients of the Sir David Jack Scholarship − a new programme funded by a donation from the family of the late Sir David Jack, which aims to support 40 PhD projects over the next decade. The BPS described the programme as transformative for the future of pharmacological research.

Her project will investigate a novel class of drugs known as PROTACs, or protein degraders, as a potential treatment for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that currently has no cure and frequently returns after treatment. A key focus of the research is overcoming one of the disease's most stubborn obstacles: its ability to recruit and reprogramme immune cells, known as macrophages, into protecting the tumour and resisting therapy.

The research centres on a compound called CBPD-409, which targets proteins essential to myeloma cell survival. Early laboratory results have shown the drug not only kills cancer cells but may also disrupt the mechanism by which the tumour co-opts the immune system. It has shown effectiveness even in conditions that typically cause resistance to treatment and has demonstrated low toxicity - a promising sign for its potential safety profile in patients.

Chloe was selected following a competitive process that included a panel interview in London. Speaking about the award, she said she was "honoured" to receive the scholarship and hoped her work would "contribute to the development of innovative therapies that could improve treatment options for patients with multiple myeloma."

Chloe’s PhD project will be supervised by Dr Mark Williams and Dr Yvonne Dempsie of the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

Dr Mark Williams, described the award as a significant milestone for the department, school, and University. He said: “It is the first time GCU has received a BPS-funded PhD studentship and reflects both Chloe’s potential as a researcher and the strength of its research culture and mentorship.”

Dr Yvonne Dempsie said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Chloe. It demonstrates both the exceptional standard of students emerging from the department, and the excellent research carried out. We’d like to thank the BPS and Sir David Jack’s family for the generous funding.”

Dr John Butcher, Head of Department for Biological and Biomedical sciences, said: “This outstanding achievement reflects both Chloe’s talent and the strength of our research environment within the School of Health and Life Sciences at GCU, as well as the vital role of our Research Centre for Health (REACH) in fostering innovation. Being awarded this prestigious BPS PhD studentship is a significant milestone for the department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, and we are proud to support research that has real potential to transform patient outcomes in blood cancer.”