Research stay in Boston: PhD student at the Danish Research Center for Skin Cancer studies new strategies for immunotherapeutic treatment

In September, PhD student Rikke Louise Christensen moved to Boston to spend six months at Associate Professor Shawn Demehris lab. The stay is a part of her PhD research at the Danish Research Center For Skin Cancer, where Rikke studies targeted immunotherapeutic treatment strategies for squamous cell carcinoma.

Under the guidance of Associate Professor Shawn Demehri, Rikke will work with various models for skin cancer treatment using energy-based devices including laser, cryotherapy, and electrocautery. Director and research leader Merete Hædersdal from the Danish Research Center for Skin Cancer is the main project supervisor for Rikkes PhD and has just returned from Boston, where she got an insight into Rikkes promising research work.

The Demehri Lab primarily does research work to determine the role of the immune system in regulating the early stages of cancer in order to exploit its anti-tumor potential for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The lab is part of Massachusetts General Hospital, which is the largest teaching hospital connected to Harvard Medical School.

Rikke holds a MSc degree in Human Biology and expects to be back at Bispebjerg Hospital in February 2023 to finish her PhD project.