Christian Molina (far right) with members of Patricia Possik’s group (third from right to left) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

We have been active during this month! Postdoc Christian Molina is undergoing an internship at Patricia Possik’s research group, based at the Brazilian National Cancer Institute in Rio de Janeiro, where he is learning the details and protocols for the establishment of PDX models. These are animal models of human tumours that allow us to follow their evolution in vivo, and to test potential therapeutics – in our opinion, very important work for Latin American patients suffering from acral lentiginous melanoma. This is in the context of a collaboration enabled by our Medical Research Council grant, to whom we are very thankful for providing these learning opportunities.

Also, Daniela has been in Lima, Peru, participating as an invited speaker in the International Symposium on Immunology and Biotchnology, organised by the Peruvian Institute of Health. She discussed methodologies for identifying genes associated to disease, especially our work in melanoma, and you can watch her talk here. Next week, she will attend the Scientific Retreat of the Melanoma Research Alliance, in Washington, DC where she will chair a roundtable discussion and participate in the Melanoma Models Workshop.

Back at home, the other members of the CGBio group have been busy preparing a couple of book chapters and a review. We hope to be able to share them with you soon!