Dr Dirk Sieger

Dr Dirk Sieger at the University of Edinburgh heads a research team that’s aiming to better understand the biology of a group of brain tumours called gliomas. 

Some gliomas grow very quickly and the tumour cells can spread to other regions of the brain, making the disease very difficult to treat. Research has found that a type of immune cell in the brain called microglia are linked with this process of invasion, and Dr Sieger wants to understand more about their role. 

To do this, he’s studying human glioma cells in the brains of tiny fish called zebrafish. He wants to find out how the tumour cells and microglia communicate with one another, and whether the microglia could be coaxed into hindering rather than helping the cancer grow. 

Through this important work, Dr Sieger could identify ways to exploit microglia and turn them against brain tumours, potentially opening up new treatment possibilities in the future. 

Read more about Dr Sieger’s work in our blog post.