Dr Laura Torrente Fernandez

I am Laura Torrente, and I was born and raised in Barcelona (Spain). I studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Barcelona, and I was determined to pursue a career in Cancer Research. In 2013, I was extremely fortunate to enter the PhD Program at the University of Dundee (Scotland), with Dr. Laureano De La Vega, at the Jaqui Wood Cancer Center. My PhD was fully funded by the Ninewells Cancer Campaign, which gave me the opportunity to pursue a scientific career in a highly enriching and collaborative environment.  

During my PhD, I investigated how cancer cells adapt and acquire resistance to treatment, which have strong implications in the response to therapy, and ultimately patient survival. My research in Dr. De La Vega’s laboratory defined a novel mechanism involved in chemoresistance, and our findings were published in a high impact scientific journal, namely Oncogene. The PhD program at the University of Dundee allowed me to hone my scientific skills, attend to educative seminars and scientific conferences. During that time, I became interested in investigating novel therapeutic strategies for lung cancer patients that lack adequate treatment options. As part of my goal to address this gap in knowledge, in 2017 I joined Dr. DeNicola’s laboratory at Moffitt Cancer Center (Florida, USA) to pursue my postdoctoral training. To date, I continue working on developing novel therapeutic options for lung cancer patients.  

I am incredibly grateful for all support that the University of Dundee and the Ninewells Cancer Campaign gave me thought my graduate studies. Thanks to their tremendous support, I had the opportunity to grow as scientist and, more importantly, contribute towards finding a cure for cancer.