Four students at Department of Molecular Oncology completed their MSc degrees in 2025
Training and supervision of students has over time been a key focus for the Department of Molecular Oncology, recently acknowledged in the Evaluation of Medicine and Health 2023-24 conducted by the Research Council of Norway.
This year four Master students defended their degrees at four different academic institutions.
Kristofer G. Taylor, Naser Abdelmaguid, Helene Rønningen, and Dina G. Bergmann.
Kristofer G. Taylor from the Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Kristofer analyzed prognostic biomarkers in localized prostate cancer utilizing spatial transcriptomics data, and demonstrated how differentially expressed genes across molecular clusters reveal associations between biomarker gene abundance, cell type regions, and histopathological annotations. Main supervisor: Morten Beck Rye (NTNU); co-supervisors: Rolf I Skotheim (UiO and ICR-OUS) and Bjarne Johannessen (ICR-OUS).
Naser Abdelmaguid from the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo. Naser applied a machine learning approach to whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing data from prostate cancer patients. He demonstrated that machine learning techniques have the potential to predict biochemical recurrence in primary prostate cancer. Main supervisor: Rolf I. Skotheim; co-supervisor Bjarne Johannessen.
Helene Rønningen from the Department of Life Sciences and Health at OsloMet. Helene performed validation analyses of a novel 6-gene signature for prostate cancer prognostication. When integrated with results from a larger set of samples, the gene signature results were significantly associated with biochemical recurrence, highlighting its potential in improved risk stratification. Main supervisor: Rolf I. Skotheim; co-supervisor Susanne G. Kidd.
Dina G. Bergmann from the Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo. Intercellular communication via gap junctions has important roles in regulating cell growth and tissue homeostasis and is frequently lost during cancer development. The results obtained in Dina's master project provide new insights into the post-translational mechanisms involved in mediating such loss. In particular, the project has added to our understanding of how dysregulation of phosphorylation and ubiquitination of gap junction channel proteins can contribute to loss of gap junctions in cancer cells. Supervisor: Edward Leithe; co-supervisor: Kushtrim Kryeziu.