Dr Amy Harding: 'Modelling the ECM in head and neck cancers - from scaffold to saboteur'
7:00pm - 8:00pm /
Tuesday 20th January 2026
/ Online event
Type: Lecture /
Category: Research
- Debbie Horne, Liverpool Head and Neck Centre Manager
- Admission: Free. Registration not required.
- Online location
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LIVERPOOL HEAD AND NECK CENTRE SEMINAR SERIES: RESEARCH EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT LECTURES 2026 Dr Amy Harding received her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science from The University of Sheffield (2009) and then went on to undertake an MSc RES in Translational oncology (2015) looking at the role of long non-coding RNA in oral fibroblast phenotypes.
Furthering this interest into stromal cancer cell biology, her doctoral degree focussed on the role of extracellular matrix in OSCC using complex in vitro models (awarded 2020). After several post-doctoral positions in epithelial tissue-engineering and oral drug delivery she has recently joined the University of Liverpool's Liverpool Head and Neck Cancer centre as a North-West Cancer Research Senior Fellow mentored by Professor Keith Hunter, where she will be utilising her specialism to generate 3D/4D tissue-engineered models of the oral tumour microenvironment.
These models will use the extracellular matrix generated natively from patient stromal cells i.e. Cancer associated fibroblasts and mimic the protein complexities of native tumours acting as invaluable tools for understanding how the matrix progresses head and neck cancers.
Future research intends to draw on this understanding of stromal biology as well as her specialised knowledge of in vitro oral drug delivery systems to explore and exploit cancer desmoplasia. The aim being that understanding the biochemical and architectural changes that occur in the extracellular matrix of head & neck cancers, will help develop innovative and personalised stromal-targeted therapies.
Furthering this interest into stromal cancer cell biology, her doctoral degree focussed on the role of extracellular matrix in OSCC using complex in vitro models (awarded 2020). After several post-doctoral positions in epithelial tissue-engineering and oral drug delivery she has recently joined the University of Liverpool's Liverpool Head and Neck Cancer centre as a North-West Cancer Research Senior Fellow mentored by Professor Keith Hunter, where she will be utilising her specialism to generate 3D/4D tissue-engineered models of the oral tumour microenvironment.
These models will use the extracellular matrix generated natively from patient stromal cells i.e. Cancer associated fibroblasts and mimic the protein complexities of native tumours acting as invaluable tools for understanding how the matrix progresses head and neck cancers.
Future research intends to draw on this understanding of stromal biology as well as her specialised knowledge of in vitro oral drug delivery systems to explore and exploit cancer desmoplasia. The aim being that understanding the biochemical and architectural changes that occur in the extracellular matrix of head & neck cancers, will help develop innovative and personalised stromal-targeted therapies.