Abigail Bunkum
Abigail Bunkum
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PhD Student
PhD Student
I am a PhD student in the Computational Cancer Genomics Lab, supported by a Cancer Research UK PhD Training Fellowship. My research focuses on the development of algorithms to reconstruct tumour phylogenetic trees from DNA sequencing data. I am also involved in the TRACERx study and PEACE autopsy study, led by Profs. Charles Swanton and Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, where I am inferring the migration patterns of metastatic tumours.
My background involves both biomedical and computational work, having undertaken my BSc in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bath, and my MSc in Health Data Science at the University of Exeter. I am keen to combine these fields of research within my project to help develop tools that can improve our understanding of cancer evolution and metastasis.
Positions
08/2018 – 09/2019 | Visiting Scientist, Cancer Cell Plasticity Lab, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia.
08/2018 – 09/2019 | Research Intern, Ageing and Diabetes Lab, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Roles
09/2021 – Present | Visiting Scientist, Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
Fellowships
09/2021 | CRUK Centre Non-Clinical Training Award PhD Studentship, Cancer Research UK.
Honors and Awards
07/2024 | ISMB EvolCompGen Best Long Talk, International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB), Canada.
07/2024 | ISMB Travel Fellowship, International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB), Canada.
10/2023 | Merit Travel Award, European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), Paris.
11/2022 | CRUK Lung Cancer Conference Poster Prize.
09/2021 | Health Data Science First in Cohort Award, University of Exeter.
Scientific Community Work
09/2024 | Scientist Presenter, Cancer Research UK Behind the Science Event, London, UK.
04/2023 | Scientist Q&A, Cancer Research UK Behind the Science Event, London, UK.
Education
09/2021 – 09/2025 | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Computational Cancer Genomics, University College London Cancer Institute, London, UK.
Thesis title: Investigating Metastatic Migration Patterns in Lung Cancer.
Supervisors: Dr. Simone Zaccaria and Prof. Mariam Jamal-Hanjani.09/2020 – 09/2021 | Masters Degree (MSc.) in Health Data Science, First Class, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
07/2021 - 09/2021 : Research Project - Identification of genes influencing Type 2 Diabetes risk using UK Biobank whole-exome
sequencing data. Supervisor: Prof. Inês Barroso.
09/2016 – 09/2020 | Bachelors degree (BSc.) in Biomedical Science, First Class Honours, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
09/2019 - 01/2020: Research Project - Dexamethasone-induced AR42J-B13 hepatocyte-like cells convert to a perivenous phenotype in response to Activin A. Supervisor: Prof. David Tosh.
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