Assessing the role of proteomics in diet and cancer risk
- 8 September 2025 to 2 December 2025
- Project No: D26019
- DPhil Project 2026
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU)
Background
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, but some cancers are potentially preventable through lifestyle changes, including diet and related factors (e.g. obesity and alcohol use). While numerous studies have reported on diet-cancer associations, including for example convincing evidence of higher risk of colorectal cancer with processed meat consumption, the biological mechanisms underlying these associations remain unclear. Additionally, the level of evidence for many other diet-cancer associations were considered limited or unknown, and observed associations may be subject to residual confounding.
Proteomics is the study of multiple proteins and their interconnected pathways. The availability of proteomics data in large studies has facilitated the identification of novel protein-cancer associations in our recent studies. In addition to being on the causal pathway to cancer risk, the expression of these proteins may also be altered by diet or early cancer processes. Therefore, the incorporation of proteomics into the investigation of diet-cancer associations may provide unique insights into understanding potential disease mechanisms.
The overall aim of this DPhil project is to understand the role of circulating proteins in explaining the relationship between diet and cancer risk. The project will use data from UK Biobank and EPIC, and the candidate is expected to focus on either specific dietary factors (dietary patterns and lifestyle-based recommendations, food groups or key nutrients) or a specific cancer site of interest. The work will involve assessing the associations of dietary factors with cancer risk, as well as the associations of these dietary factors with circulating levels of around 9,000 proteins (measured using Olink and SomaLogic technologies) in the UK Biobank and EPIC. It will also involve investigating the associations of diet-related plasma proteins with cancer incidence, including potentially triangulation of results across the different aims and methods (e.g. incorporating genetics) to understand the aetiological role of plasma proteins in diet-cancer associations.
research experience, research methods and skills training
The student will perform a literature review on the topic, and plan and conduct statistical analyses using large-scale datasets. The student will give presentations at internal meetings and external conferences, and write papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
FIELD WORK, SECONDMENTS, INDUSTRY PLACEMENTS AND TRAINING
Support and training for specific research methods and statistical analyses will be provided within the department. There will be an opportunity to collaborate with external researchers within the EPIC network.
PROSPECTIVE STUDENT
The ideal candidate will have strong quantitative skills, including an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in epidemiology or statistics. The project will suit someone with an interest in nutritional, molecular or cancer epidemiology.