Undergraduate Summer Research Internship 2026

1. Background
The Clinical Challenge: Endometrial cancer is the most prevalent gynaecological malignancy in developed countries. While the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is dysregulated in over 90% of cases, the clinical success of PI3K inhibitors (such as alpelisib) has been restricted by severe toxicity and the rapid development of drug resistance.

The Genetic Driver: Recent data from the Eustace lab identified that mutations in the Insulin Receptor (INSR)—which are common across various malignancies—over-activate the PI3K/Akt signaling axis and are strongly associated with resistance to standard targeted therapies. However, the lab has discovered a potential "Achilles' heel": cancers harbouring INSR mutations exhibit a unique sensitivity profile to drugs that target the apoptotic (cell death) pathway.

The Strategy: To bypass the compensatory survival mechanisms used by cancer cells, this project investigates a dual-targeting approach in INSR-mutant endometrial cancers. By simultaneously blocking the PI3K growth pathway and triggering the apoptotic machinery, we aim to overcome resistance and achieve a more potent therapeutic response.

2. Hypotheses
We hypothesise that:
1. Endometrial cell lines harbouring INSR mutations will demonstrate greater sensitivity to the simultaneous inhibition of PI3K and apoptotic regulators than to monotherapy.
2. Combining alpelisib (PI3Ki) with pro-apoptotic agents—specifically Navitoclax (Bcl-2 inhibitor) or AZD5582 (XIAP inhibitor)—will produce a synergistic effect, enhancing cytotoxicity beyond the capabilities of either agent alone.

3. Research Progress to Date
We have evaluated these strategies across four primary endometrial cell lines with distinct genetic profiles:
1.        AN3CA: INSR WT / PIK3CA WT
2.        RL-952: INSR Mut / PIK3CA WT
3.        MFE-280: INSR WT / PIK3CA Mut
4.        MFE-296: INSR Mut / PIK3CA Mut

Key Findings:
•Confirmed Resistance: Our data confirms that INSR-mutant cell lines are significantly more resistant to the PI3K inhibitor monotherapy compared to wild-type lines.
•Limited Synergy (Bcl-2): Combined inhibition of Bcl-2 and PI3K showed strong anti-cancer effects only in double-wild-type cells, with limited synergy observed in INSR-mutant lines.
•Targeted Synergy (XIAP): Conversely, dual inhibition of XIAP and PI3K demonstrated potent synergistic effects specifically in INSR-mutant cells (both single and double mutants), driven by a marked increase in apoptosis induction.

4. Undergraduate Summer Project
While targeting the INSR-PI3K-Apoptosis axis is a promising strategy, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain complex. This summer project aims to elucidate the protein-level changes and phosphorylation states that explain why certain cell lines respond to these combinations while others remain resistant.

The student will be responsible for:
1. Cell Culture & Treatment: Maintaining endometrial cancer cell lines and performing controlled drug dosing.
2. Protein Analysis: Extracting and quantifying cellular proteins to prepare high-quality lysates for Western Blotting.
3. Molecular Screening: Analysing the expression and activation of key signaling nodes, including:
o        Total & Phospho-AKT (S473, T308): To validate the extent of PI3K pathway blockade.
o        Total XIAP: To assess the direct impact of the XIAP inhibitor (AZD5582).
o        Total BCL-2: To characterise the baseline apoptotic threshold and the targeting efficacy of Navitoclax.

For further information contact the project lead

Assoc. Prof Alex Eustace | School of Biotechnology

Email: alex.eustace@dcu.ie

Identifying and developing athletes remains a central priority for clubs and national governing bodies of sport worldwide. Talent Development (TD) is seen as inherently non-linear and influenced by a range of psychological, environmental, and developmental factors (Shelley et al., 2025). Most sports operate within increasingly structured talent development environments (TDEs), where young players engage in systematic training designed to maximise long-term performance potential.

Central to this approach is the recognition that young athletes develop at different biological rates, meaning that chronological age (i.e., the typical approach to grouping young players in sport) is often limited for guiding individual training and development (Cumming et al., 2017). Differences in maturation timing can significantly affect speed, strength, coordination and anthropometric characteristics, often leading to systematic biases in talent identification and player selection. As such, training environments should be intentionally designed to account for individual differences in growth and maturation as part of the developmental journey (Sweeney, MacNamara, & Horan, 2022).

What about the Girls?
Women’s sport has grown exponentially nationally and internationally and, with this, a parallel growth in sport science provision especially at the elite level. This growth has not been matched by female-specific research focused on either specific female issues (Costello et al., 2014) or the female population (McNulty et al., 2024). The gender data gap in sport science (Cowley, 2021) not only affects the development of sex-specific training methodologies and injury prevention strategies but also perpetuates systemic biases in resource allocation and representation.

Mixed Training Environments
Mixed training environments, including mixed-ability, cross-age, and mixed-gender groups, are increasingly used in youth sport to expose athletes to diverse developmental stimuli. As one example, high-level female players describe how their early experiences included “playing with the boys”, though mixed-gender training in youth sport remains a relatively underexplored area, especially during pre- and peri-pubertal stages where biological maturation trajectories differ between boys and girls. As a second example, ability grouping, or streaming, refers to grouping players by their perceived current ability. Both these examples are underpinned by the Challenge Point Framework (CPF) (Guadagnoli & Lee, 2004) that proposes that optimal skill learning occurs when the difficulty of a task is matched to the learner’s skill level and information-processing capacity. Within sport skill acquisition, this framework suggests that training environments should be structured so that the functional difficulty of tasks aligns with the performer’s developmental stage, physical capacities, and skill level.

Aims of the Project
The aim of this project is to examine, using a field-based experimental design, maturation informed, mixed gender- and mixed ability- groupings as the most developmentally appropriate challenge point for young athletes. 
Research questions
•        Does training in mixed-gender and ability-informed environments influence physical, technical, tactical and psychological outcomes in match-play situations? 
•        Can maturation-informed grouping strategies improve training responses and development outcomes for girls within mixed-gender environments? 
•        Can ability-informed grouping strategies improve training responses and development outcomes for girls within mixed-gender environments? 

For further information contact the project lead

Dr Áine MacNamara | School of Health & Human Performance

Email: aine.macnamara@dcu.ie

Early-stage diagnosis of triple negative breast cancer is of immense importance to improving patient outcome. However, traditional diagnostic methods (mammogram, CT scans) can fail to identify the disease in the early stages of development. Extracellular Vesicles (EVs), particularly exosomes (EVs with size ≤200nm), as non-invasive biomarkers obtained from liquid biopsies (such as blood samples, saliva etc.) have become a key factor in the early-stage detection of lung cancer development.
The proposed project leverages ongoing work from an ongoing Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund Project (An AI-enabled diagnostic platform for cancer screening, SIRIUS. CF-2024-2542) focusing on breast cancer screening (HER2+, ER+ and healthy patients) and integrates critical breakthroughs in exosome separation and capture, integrated with machine learning guided scattered enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) analysis to deliver a rapid, accurate, and low-cost diagnostic platform.
The selected student intern will work closely alongside an experienced postdoctoral researcher and two experienced (MSc. Level) research assistants to become fully trained in the following key skills: 
1. Biological sample management: The student intern will be trained to successfully generate in-vitro developed exosomes from triple negative breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and HCC1937).
2. Exosome Separation: The student intern will be trained in methods to utilise a previously developed microfluidic system which has been proven to isolate exosomes in the size range ≤220nm, the range in which disease-indicative exosomes fall, and extract them for additional analysis. 
3. Exosome Analysis: Training will be provided to analyse the extracted exosomes for the size range properties utilising the ZetaSizer Direct Light Scattering (DLS) system located in the NRF. Experience will also be gained in quantification of exosomes utilising the CytoFlex (LSRF and NRF) and Amnis Cellstream (SoBT) flow cytometry systems. Training on imaging exosome samples using the STED Confocal Microscope in the NRF will also be completed by the intern.
4. Collaborative Analysis Methods: In addition to the methods outlined above, the exosome samples prepared by the student intern will also be provided to collaborators in the School of Chemistry for SERS capture and measurement, and the resulting signal outputs will then be transferred to the Insight Research Centre for machine learning training and classification. 
5. Research communication: Training will also be provided in lab documentation skills and dissemination of research results and activities. If applicable, the area of invention disclosure forms will also be evaluated. 
 

Upon completion of the project, the student intern will have generated data sets on triple negative breast cancer cells which will feed into the overall Project Sirius datasets as comparators to the other breast cancer sub types (HER2+, ER+) and healthy patients studied in the project to date. For a student at the end of their 3rd year, the experiences gained and data generated would enhance the student’s ability to successfully complete a research project stream in their fourth year on the topic. For a student intern who has completed their fourth year, this project would enable them to apply for a funded postgraduate position under the Research Ireland PhD Scholarship funding programs.  

For further information contact the project lead:

Dr Damien King | School of Biotechnology

Email: Damien.King@dcu.ie

‘Pathways to Advocacy’ is a mixed-methods research pilot designed to address the "gatekeeping failure" in chronic pain management by enhancing patient health literacy and self-advocacy.  This project addresses a critical gap in Irish healthcare: the high-stakes, time-limited nature of chronic pain consultations where limited health literacy often prevents effective patient participation in decision-making. Limited health literacy remains a significant barrier to the Shared Decision-Making (SDM) models championed by Sláintecare. The intern will be embedded within the School of Health and Human Performance, joining a multidisciplinary team with expertise in chronic pain, participatory methods, and health literacy. They will work directly with PI Dr Kate Sheridan and benefit from the senior mentorship of Prof Siobhán O’Connor.

This project aims to pilot a community-based intervention that empowers adults to translate their lived experience into actionable clinical communication. By utilising plain language and participatory co-design, the project supports patients to move from passive recipients of care to active partners in their management plan. This summer internship will support the initial pilot of the advocacy program with three further iterations to be completed as Final Year Research Projects (FYPs) in the academic year 2026-2027.

Intern Engagement and Integration
In Weeks 1–2, the intern will complete specialised training in Adult Literacy Awareness and Plain Language Delivery training. By Weeks 3–8, they will take an active role in co-designing and adapting European Pain Federation’s (EFIC) evidence-based resources (the “Pain Journey Booklet”) for the Irish community context. In August, the intern will co-facilitate the first pilot workshop, managing participant screening, recruitment, and onboarding. This hands-on role ensures they are a central member of the research team.

Mentorship and Reporting Structure:
The intern will report to PI Dr Kate Sheridan through formal weekly progress meetings. These sessions will include "Research Reflective Practice" to track the development of their clinical reasoning and research skills.

Skills Development and PhD Progression: 
The project is structured specifically to build a foundation for a competitive PhD application:
•Methodological Skills: Training in mixed-methods evaluation, including pre/post quantitative surveys and qualitative interview transcription.
•Technical Skills: Exposure to validated psychometric tools like the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) and the Perceived competence Score (PCS).
•Research Outputs: The intern will lead a poster presentation of pilot findings, at the annual Irish Pain Conference (October 2026) and be a named author on a peer-reviewed manuscript examining workshop effectiveness.
•FYP Alignment: This internship directly feeds into the student’s Final Year Project (FYP) in September 2026, allowing for deep, longitudinal engagement with the data, a significant advantage for future Research Ireland funding applications

Alignment with National and International Priorities: 
•National: It directly supports the "Adult Literacy for Life" (ALL) 10-year strategy and the HSE National Clinical Programme for Chronic Pain, which prioritises community-based self-management. It further aligns with Healthy Ireland’s goal of reducing health inequities.
•International: The project addresses the World Health Organisation (WHO) mandate on health literacy as a social determinant of health and the EFIC 2025 research strategy, which emphasises improving patient-provider communication pathways.

For further information contact the project lead:

Dr Kate Sheridan | School of Health and Human Performance

Email: Kate.Sheridan@dcu.ie