This post is written by Elsi Pöllänen, Samuel Leppiniemi, and Susanna Holmström, who all are PhD-students in the Finnish iCANDOC pilot program and work in Hautaniemi lab at the University of Helsinki. They were asked to share what motivates them to work in cancer research, how they plan on using DECIDER data in their projects, and what they like about the iCANDOC program.
It is a unique opportunity to contribute to precision oncology in the era of Big Data and AI methods. The development in computational biology is happening faster than ever with the amount of biological data growing each day coupled with the constant emergence of more powerful computational tools. To us this means that we have the opportunity to put our theoretical knowledge into practice and to do that exactly at the frontline of the research.
Two major themes rose when we discussed the sources of motivation for our research. Firstly, since the field is fairly new and still taking its shape, many practicalities have not yet been set in stone. Although it adds to the complexity, it also assures limitless potential for creativity in conducting our research. Secondly, the prospect of encountering new insights and knowledge when working with real patient data reinforces the strong feeling of purpose in our daily work. After all, there is a possibility of eventually having a real impact on patient care.
Working as a part of DECIDER and iCANDOC offers us an inspiring environment to work on our doctoral studies. The iCANDOC Precision Cancer Medicine program offers 152 paid PhD positions for 3-4 years at multiple universities in Finland. The program is governed by the iCAN Flagship and part of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture’s doctoral education pilot to address the growing need of PhDs in the private and public sector. At the University of Helsinki, students in the doctoral pilot programs are given support in the form of Base Camps (for learning transferrable skills), peer mentoring, frequent thesis committee meetings, a dedicated pilot team, and networking events to ensure the students will defend within the 3-4 years and have a successful career after graduation. The iCAN flagship organizes seminars, symposia, and science retreats which create possibilities to share research findings and establish collaborations with other cancer scientists.
Being a student in the iCANDOC program allows us to be independent researchers working towards our own goals, while still enjoying the collaborative and supportive atmosphere in our own lab. The pilot program offers various networking and peer mentoring opportunities, and especially during the Base Camps we were able to make a lot of friends from a variety of different fields. Getting to know other cancer scientists has highlighted how interdisciplinary the field of cancer research truly is – the students in iCANDOC have their background in cell biology, pharmacy, translational medicine, data science, and engineering to name a few, and the projects range from cell and mice experiments to population studies and pure data analysis.
A major strength shared across all our projects is the access to the DECIDER cohort, which provides high-quality, longitudinal data from tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma patients. This includes genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic profiles, as well as comprehensive clinical information collected across multiple time points. Having this kind of multi-layered data is invaluable: it allows us to ask complex, clinically relevant questions, whether we are studying mechanisms of drug resistance, exploring molecular subtypes, or developing computational tools to integrate different data layers.
The availability of this data from the very beginning of our PhD allows us to dive straight into meaningful analyses and accelerates our ability to generate results. This is a real benefit for us as iCANDOC students considering the fast pace of the program, and we are grateful for the opportunity that DECIDER and iCANDOC offers us.