Researcher receives international scholarship for research into lung cancer
Medical doctor and PhD student Steffen Filskov Sørensen from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital has been awarded a financial helping hand towards his research into lung cancer.
Medical doctor and PhD student Steffen Filskov Sørensen from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital has just received a scholarship from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. The organisation awards three grants annually – one to a researcher from Asia, one to a researcher from the USA and one to a researcher from Europe. Steffen Filskov Sørensen is the first Dane to receive the 2014-15 European scholarship of DKK 224,000 for his research into lung cancer.
"The scholarship is international recognition of the clinical relevance of my PhD project and, of course, it also provides financial support. The scholarship will hopefully strengthen awareness of the extensive research into lung cancer being conducted at AU and AUH," says Steffen Filskov Sørensen.
Early and accurate diagnostics
Steffen Filskov Sørensen’s research focuses on the development of a method to measure specific lung cancer mutations in the blood of lung cancer patients. The method will result in doctors being able to see more precisely whether e.g. chemotherapy or radiation treatment has worked, and to see this earlier. It will also be possible to assess whether there is a relapse after surgery for lung cancer at an earlier stage and to do this more precisely.
"In the future the measurement of lung cancer mutations in the blood will be able to supplement the scans and tissue biopsies that are used in clinics today. The method will not cause inconvenience to the patients as it is only based on the analysis of normal blood tests," says Steffen Filskov Sørensen.
Steffen Filskov Sørensen received his MD from Aarhus University in 2006. He is currently taking his specialist training in oncology at Aarhus University Hospital, but since February 2014 he has been on leave due to his PhD degree programme at Aarhus University. Here the examination of tumours’ DNA mutations in the blood are carried out in the research group headed by Boe Sørensen, Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Peter Meldgaard, Department of Oncology.
Further information:
Medical Doctor (MD), PhD student Steffen Filskov Sørensen
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Oncology