Research
Esme's PhD project, funded by the Sussex Cancer Research Centre and the Sussex Cancer Fund, investigates whether the integration of proteomic, clinical, behavioural and psychosocial data can be used to predict cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in women with breast and ovarian cancer. The primary aim is to build predictive models that combine these data sources to identify individuals at risk of developing severe or persistent fatigue. Alongside this, the project characterises how CRF develops over the course of treatment and recovery, identifying subgroups with distinct fatigue trajectories and the factors that differentiate them. She will also examine relationships between CRF and health-related quality of life, mood, stress, self-efficacy, social support, physical activity and clinical characteristics, and explore whether specific proteins or biological pathways link to these psychosocial or clinical measures.
During her MRes in Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, Esme investigated interoception and insula function in fibromyalgia and ME/CFS. The project examined how interoceptive processing, insular morphology, and resting-state connectivity relate to fatigue and pain in these conditions. Participants completed behavioural measures, including heartbeat tracking and interoceptive questionnaires, alongside a structural and functional MRI.