Denis Collins. Image: Kyran O'Brien
‘The OPW don’t take kindly to holes in the Phoenix Park.’ From an interest in the night sky to the world beneath our feet, Dr Denis Collins found his calling deep within the cells of the human body.
For Dr Denis Collins, the “ultimate goal” of his work in cancer research is to “help patients”. Cancer is a complex set of diseases, he says, and the work of his team provides insights into potential new treatments and tests to tackle this heavy burden.
Collins graduated with a degree in biological and chemical sciences from University College Cork before pursuing a PhD in drug resistance in cancer at Dublin City University (DCU). Now he is an assistant professor and principal investigator of the Cancer Biotherapeutics Research Group in DCU.
Here he gives an insight into the work of his team.
Tell us about your current research.
The Cancer Biotherapeutics Research Group works on investigating less toxic, targeted cancer therapies and combinations for cancer types they may not currently be used in. We also work to understand the immune response to cancer to find new ways of getting your own immune cells to attack the cancer. Identifying biomarkers of response to treatment is another important area for us. By looking for factors in the blood or in the tumour, we may be able to match the right patients with the right drugs.
Currently there are three postdoctoral researchers, four PhD students, an international internship student and an MD candidate in the group. Each team member has a specific project that they work on. Examples include the investigation of the potential of the breast cancer drug Neratinib in cancer types it is not currently used in, determining the impact of bacteria commonly found in tumours on the immune response to antibody therapies in colon cancer and a test to identify patients who will respond to chemotherapy in advance of treatment to inform treatment decisions.
The projects are funded by a diverse array of charity, industry and exchequer sources including Science Foundation Ireland, Puma Biotechnology, the Irish Research Council, the Cancer Clinical Research Trust, Erasmus Plus, the HEA North South Research Programme, and a DCU School of Biotechnology biotherapeutics research scholarship.
What inspired you to become a researcher?
I have always been curious about the world around me. Growing up I can remember reading the World Book Encyclopedia and science year books to learn about recent advances in science and technology. The human body section of the World Books had clear plastic pages that overlaid on each other showing the different body systems and how they were organised relative to each other. I liked that, being able to visualise the systems really helped my understanding of how the different systems worked together.
Astronomy and archaeology were also two disciplines that grabbed my attention from an early age. I would get the odd astronomy magazine and they would outline what to look out for in the skies at that time of year. There were dark skies in the countryside where I grew up so I spent quite a few nights watching for meteors and looking for the planets in among the constellations. I remember turning off the house lights and standing outside the back door looking for Halley’s Comet on its last visit.
Archaeology fascinated me as it provided a way to see what has gone. Finding bits of old pottery and clay pipes felt like a real link to people and times past. The skies are too well lit in Dublin and the OPW [Office of Public Works] don’t take kindly to holes in the Phoenix Park, so I guess biology won out in the end.
What are some of the biggest challenges or misconceptions you face as a researcher in your field?
Sustainable funding is a major challenge. Much of the funding we acquire is project based, so it lasts for four to five years and then follow-on funding is needed. We make plans to secure funding to continue work by applying for funding in advance of the completion of grants and try to ensure the relevance of the proposed work by building new collaborations and staying at the forefront of knowledge, but there is no guarantee that funding will be secured. This means expertise that has been built up within a group or area can be lost as PhD students and postdocs move on. It is the nature of the ecosystem, but it contributes to the insecurity associated with careers in research and can hamper efforts to make consistent long-term, real-world impacts.
With regards to misconceptions, I have been hearing the conspiracy theory that the cure for cancer already exists and is being kept under wraps for too long. The theory goes that pharma companies are making so much money from current cancer drugs that there is no impetus to release an already discovered cure. It is not true. Cancer is a very complex set of diseases (more than 100 types) that originate in multiple tissues throughout the body. On top of this, it originates from our own cells which makes targeting just the cancer cells and not our healthy tissue much harder. This is what makes it so difficult to treat and to find a cure. Perhaps working harder to communicate this to the public would help dispel these theories.
Do you think public engagement with science and data has changed in recent years?
I would hope that there is more understanding in the general public but I think there was a needs-must attitude during the pandemic that has ebbed since. People wanted to know what the stats and data meant at the time as it impacted their day-to-day lives.
Even with the welcome increase in efforts for communication of science to the public, there still seems to be a stigma around the ‘expert’ which maintains a distance in the discourse. Creating environments where people are confident enough to ask questions of the experts is important and so is making the experts more accessible and less intimidating. In social settings, I’ve been surprised to have people almost apologising for asking questions about cancer research. I’m happy to chat about it and appreciate the fact that people are interested in what we do.
How do you encourage engagement with your own work?
Cancer is an emotive topic and generating engagement with the public and those outside the field may be less of a challenge than for other disciplines. As a starting point, I engage social media and communication channels within the university to highlight publications and presentations from the group. Given the nature of our research, it is important to manage expectations in relation to the laboratory work we do and how far (or close) it is to getting to patients.
The PhD students and postdoctoral scientists in my lab partake in the Pint of Science and the DCU Tell it Straight competitions – both initiatives focus on communicating research to the public.
I have also participated in patient education talks through the Cancer Clinical Research Trust and ARC. Participation means the opportunity for questions on our work, and hopefully some understanding spread.
The Irish Association for Cancer Research [IACR] runs the Prof Patrick G Johnston lay communication award every year for early-stage cancer researchers. Cancer researchers are asked to submit a short description of their work to the IACR, with the six candidates with the most promising communication skills selected to work with cancer patients to develop a short presentation to attendees and the public at the annual conference. It has been a great success to date. Working with patients has been a revelation for the researchers as they learn how their work is seen by those who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the work they do. The IACR conference moves around the island of Ireland so keep an eye out for where the future meetings are if you are interested in attending the lay communication event.
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