I am a final-year PhD student in Pharmacology at Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, funded by the British Pharmacological Society’s prestigious AJ Clark Studentship. My research focuses on the role of the pro-inflammatory protein IKKα in osteosarcoma, investigating its regulation of oncogenes and cellular signalling pathways through RNA-sequencing. I have identified IKKα as a potential therapeutic target, alongside several dependent genes involved in tumour progression. Alongside my core research, I am passionate about inclusive education and research culture, contributing to Strathclyde’s CULTURE-GAPS in STEM project funded by the Wellcome Trust. I hold multiple elected committee roles within the British Pharmacological Society and the Glasgow Pharmacological Society, where I co-organise events and promote early-career engagement and accessibility. My research training includes molecular biology, microscopy, transcriptomics, and zebrafish handling. During my PhD, I completed a three-month placement in Dr Soumen Basak’s laboratory at the National Institute of Immunology in Delhi, supported by the University of Glasgow’s MacRobertson Travel Grant, gaining valuable experience in a leading laboratory in my field. I have contributed to writing and delivering on several collaborative grants across pharmacology, ageing research, and education, and I actively support undergraduate training through summer vacationship supervision and education-focused initiatives. I aim to continue my academic career through postdoctoral research, with a long-term goal of contributing to interdisciplinary, inclusive science that bridges pharmacology, inflammation, and translational education.

Abstract: Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumour, yet its incidence remains low at 1-3 cases per million annually. Despite this rarity, patient prognoses remain poor, with limited therapeutic advances over the past five decades. IκB kinase alpha (IKKα) has emerged as a key driver of cancer progression, metastasis, and chemoresistance by promoting pro-inflammatory NF-κB signalling pathways and directly phosphorylating histone H3 at serine 10 on oncogene promoters. However, its role in OS remains unclear. This study aimed to identify IKKα-dependent genes in U2OS cells, a human OS cell line. Using transcriptomic analysis and further experimental validation, we investigated the effect of IKKα CRISPR-Cas9 knockdown on gene expression. The findings suggest a novel role for IKKα in regulating cholesterol biosynthetic enzymes, and subsequent cholesterol production. Furthermore, these findings provide compelling evidence for IKKα as a potential therapeutic drug target in cholesterol-related diseases.