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Charlotte Lettau

DPhil student

I did a B.Sc. in Biology at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen/Nuremberg, where I graduated in 2021. My Bachelor’s thesis included fundamental research on CD21 in mice, where I first got in touch with FACS-analysis and mouse work.

After my undergrad, I decided to continue my education in the field of Immunology at the same University with the integrated Immunology Master’s programme, funded by the Bavarian Elite Network. This programme integrated both, medical sciences and natural sciences, with courses including virology, microbiology, and clinical- and translational immunology. It also included an international internship, for which I went to King’s College London, where I worked on a project concerning macrophages in the tumour microenvironment of osteosarcoma and gained experience in imaging and cell culture. During this internship, I decided to continue my career path, focusing on cancer sciences.

I wrote my master’s thesis on the effect of Selinexor (XPO-1 inhibitor) - treatment on macrophages in the tumour microenvironment in multiple myeloma at the university clinic Erlangen, which I finished by the end of 2023.

Before starting my DPhil in Oxford, I got the opportunity to do a 6-months internship in the department of pre-clinical research in oncology at Roche Diagnostics GmbH in Penzberg. Here, I learned how to use spectral flow cytometry and generally gained a unique insight into industry workflows and how these differ from an academic setting.

In October 2024 I joined the lab of Prof. David Withers, where I will be researching on the effect of TGFb on the anti-tumour T cell response in CMS4 colorectal cancer in vivo. Using tumour organoids, engrafted in different GEMMs, I will be aiming to define how TGFb inhibition alters the T cell response in primary and metastatic CRC. Furthermore, I want to build an understanding of the contributions of other immune cell populations or stromal cells to TGFb/anti-tumour responses and how to use that knowledge to improve T cell response in combination with immunotherapy.