Dr Lauren Cairns PhD is a research scientist with almost 10 years experience in cancer biology. The primary focus of her research experience was identifying novel repurposed combination therapies for the treatment of paediatric cancers such as AML, ALL and Medulloblastoma. Lauren also successfully implemented a robust multiplex drug screening approach which was later adopted as part of an inter-disciplinary translational research initiative involving the Belfast Trust, the NI Biobank and the Patrick G. Johnston Centre for Cancer Research. This collaborative research initiative is furthering our understanding of the importance of genetic mutations in myeloid malignancies in determining selection of the most efficacious treatment options for patients.

Lauren was awarded a BSc (Hons) in Human Biology from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in 2015, following which she  completed a PhD in Cancer Medicine at the Patrick G. Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at QUB. During her PhD Lauren worked closely with industry partners on the pre-clinical evaluation of a novel small molecule inhibitor. Through this research, Lauren identified promising therapeutic drug combinations for the treatment of oesophageal cancer and subsequently characterized the underlying mechanism of action which underpins these new approaches.

Lauren joined CV6 Therapeutics in 2022 as a Senior Scientist in our Research and Development team where her experience in high-throughput multiplex drug screening and complex cancer biology pathways is furthering our understanding of the mechanisms of action and exploring potential therapeutic combinations for drugs within the CV6 pipeline.