Grant award to study DNA replication in the cancer epigenome

🧬 I am delighted to share that I have been awarded a PARSUK-FCT Bilateral Research Fund Grant for our project, “Decoding DNA replication across the cancer epigenome.”

Together with Ana Rita Grosso and her Computational Multi-Omics lab at NOVA School of Science and Technology, we will investigate how epigenomic features shape the organisation and timing of DNA replication in cancer. The collaboration brings together my work on quantitative and computational models of genome-wide DNA replication in the Boemo Group at the University of Cambridge with the Grosso lab’s expertise in cancer epigenomics and multi-omics analysis.

By connecting replication dynamics with rich descriptions of chromatin and gene regulation, we aim to uncover reproducible relationships between epigenomic state and the replication programme, and to explore how those relationships may help us understand replication stress and genome instability in cancer. Just as importantly, the project will create opportunities to exchange ideas, methods, and expertise between our teams and to build a lasting collaboration between Portugal and the UK.

I am very grateful to the Portuguese Association of Researchers and Students in the UK (PARSUK) and the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for their support. The Bilateral Research Fund is a particularly meaningful initiative because it helps early-career researchers establish new links between institutions in the two countries. Congratulations as well to all the other 2026 awardees and their collaborators.

Related links

• Programme: PARSUK Bilateral Research Fund
• Official announcement: PARSUK’s 2026 awardees
• Research groups: Computational Multi-Omics and the Boemo Group
• Research profiles: Ana Rita Grosso and Francisco Berkemeier