PhD Studentship: Shining a light on cancer: Using photodynamic therapy to treat sarcomas

Title of the project: Shining a light on cancer: Using photodynamic therapy to treat sarcomas

Supervisory team: Dr Daniel Payne, Dr Calum McMullen and Dr Katja Rietdorf  (The Open University) 

Location: The School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences (LHCS), The Open University, Milton Keynes. 

This project is part of a collaboration with an industry partner, Excellio Ltd. (Edinburgh, UK), and you will have the opportunity to complete a short placement (1 month) with Excellio to gain practical skills and industry experience. 

Duration & Funding: Three years and 3 months from 1^st October 2026 and is only available for UK/Home students.

Stipend: £21,805 per year (expected 2026/27 rate, indexed annually) for 3.25 years

Project summary: 

This project will develop a new way to use an existing non-invasive treatment called photodynamic therapy for sarcoma treatment, using light and a drug called a photosensitiser to destroy cancer cells. It is an approved treatment through the NHS for some skin cancers, but it is currently not used for a wider range of cancers due to the difficulties in specifically targeting specific cancer types. However, this therapy would offer a promising alternative to the current treatments for sarcoma (surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy). This project aims to take approved drugs and package them into a smart delivery system capable of selectively targeting sarcomas. This would allow for selective delivery of the drug to the tumour, increase drug specificity and reduce unwanted off-target effects.

In this project we plan to progress this work to better understand the applicability of targeted photodynamic therapy for the treatment of sarcoma. We aim to (i) determine the efficacy of commercial photodynamic therapy drugs against a library of sarcoma cell lines (ii) package promising drug candidates into targeted drug delivery systems and study their efficacy (iii) utilise multicellular 3D cell models to investigate the tissue specificity of the developed drug delivery system. 

The results of this project may lead to the identification of a novel drug delivery system to treat sarcoma using photodynamic therapy. 

Further information: 

This three-year research studentship is funded by Sarcoma UK and provides a stipend of £21,805 per year (expected 2026/27 rate, indexed annually) for a maximum of 3.25 years and all academic fees are covered. 

The project is supervised by Dr Daniel Payne (Principal Investigator), Dr Calum McMullen and Dr Katja Rietdorf (Co-Investigators). The student would be required to live in the UK and within commuting distance of The Open University in Milton Keynes. 

Applicants will be expected to have a good undergraduate degree (upper second class or higher) in Pharmacology, Biomedical Science, Biology, Biochemistry, medicinal chemistry or a related area. 

Though previous experience in the following is not essential (all the techniques required for this project can be learned), this project would be well-suited to candidates who: 

• Are experienced in mammalian cell culture.
• Have experience in cell imaging/microscopy (wide-field or confocal fluorescence microscopy) and/or molecular biology techniques (electrophoresis, Western blotting, IHC/IF, flow cytometry etc).
• Have excellent communication skills, the ability to conduct scientific literature searches independently, and data analysis experience with proficiency in statistical software. 

Most importantly, applicants should have a passion for science and a willingness to learn. 

Informal enquiries relating to the project should be directed to Dr Daniel Payne (email: [email protected]).

How to Apply: 

Please send an email with your CV (max. 2 pages), a completed application form and HESA form and a personal statement (max. 2 pages outlining your suitability for the studentship, what you hope to achieve from the PhD and your research experience to date) to [email protected]  

You can find more information about this project via the following link: http://www.open.ac.uk/science/life-health-chemical-sciences/phd-studentships-vacancies 

This PhD position is for UK/home students only.

Closing date: 10^th April 2026 

Interview date: Online Interviews will be arranged promptly after the closing date.  

LHCS holds Athena Swan Bronze Status. We promote diversity in employment and welcome applications from all sections of the community.