A University of Malta research team from the University’s Department of Pathology received the Presentation Award for Junior Professionals following an outstanding presentation by Ms Jessica Debattista. The research team led by Professor Godfrey Grech is investigating the use of sensitive technologies to detect intra-tumour heterogeneity and characterise metastatic lesions.
Ms Debattista presented their research at the EPMA (European Association for Predictive, Preventive & Personalised Medicine) Congress, an international gathering of like-minded professionals.
The attendees were briefed on how the multiplex RNA bead-based assay (Quantigene assays, ThermoFisher) was used to quantify RNA (representing the gene amplifications) in primary tumours and matched metastatic lesions. The biomarkers were followed in tumor-derived exosomes (cellular vesicles in blood) isolated from patient plasma.
This paper is part of an ongoing research project to detect early metastatic disease, namely the Molmed project. The Molmed project is funded by the Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation.
The integration of technologies described by Ms Debattista is a joint effort with industrial partner, Omnigene Medical Technologies Ltd (a Maltese entity) and is being applied to various fields including COVID-19 research and neuroscience.
The UM research team, which has been active in the EPMA mission for the last 10 years, also published high-impact papers in the EPMA J scientific findings.
More information about the EPMA Congress is available online.