Rebecca Simpson is a PhD candidate with the Melanoma Institute Australia at The University of Sydney.
Her research focuses on the role of the gut microbiome during immune checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. Specifically, how the gut microbiota interacts with the immune system to influence the efficacy of treatment and/or the development of toxicities. Her PhD research analyses the microbiome of the first Australia cohort and one of the largest most clinically homogenous prospective microbiome patient cohorts worldwide.
Since commencing her PhD in 2020, she has published four papers in high impact journals including first author publications in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, Cancer Cell, and Nature Medicine. She has given 13 oral presentations at local, national, and international conferences.
Rebecca has received multiple awards during her candidature to present her work, including the highly competitive American Association of Cancer Research Scholar-in-Training Award (2023), a Sydney Cancer Partners Conference Support Award (2023), a European Society of Medical Oncology Merit Travel Award (2022) and an Australian and New Zealand Society of Immunology Oral Presentation Travel Bursary (2022).
During her PhD candidature, Rebecca has received two grants to support her research – the Australian Melanoma Research Foundation Postgraduate Research grant (2021) and a Charles Perkins Centre EMCR Seed Funding grant (2020).
The Rising Star PhD Candidate Award honours an exceptional PhD Candidate who is making significant progress in their research and is showing the potential to make an impact in any field of cancer research.
