Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science - Research areas and staff research interests - Medicine and Dentistry

• Centre for Academic Surgery
• Centre for Cutaneous Research
• Centre for Diabetes and Metabolic Medicine
• Centre for Gastroenterology
• Centre for Haematology
• Centre for Infectious Diseases
• Neuroscience Centre
• Centre for Paediatrics
• BICMS Pathology Group

Centre for Academic Surgery

The research focus of this Centre is colorectal disease with a strong translational emphasis. There are three main research groups:

• Functional disease
• Cancer and genetics, recently strengthened by the relocation of the CRUK Colorectal Cancer Genetics Group
• Biomaterials and reconstructive surgery.

The Gastrointestinal Physiology Unit, an integral part of the Centre and national referral centre, develops new investigations of colorectal function. Reconstructive surgery is conducted in the Colorectal Development Unit, established in 1997 and with NSCAG funding.

The Functional Group addresses the pathophysiology of lower gastrointestinal sensorimotor disorders including faecal incontinence, constipation and severe gastrointestinal neuromuscular diseases. Technological platforms range from ex vivo single cell neurophysiology and molecular techniques through to innovations of diagnostic intraluminal physiological assessment. Such findings have been employed as a guide to selection for specialist surgical treatments such as neuromodulation.

Colorectal cancer themes include molecular mechanisms underlying the differential prognosis of patients with chromosome unstable (CIN), microsatellite unstable (MSI) and microsatellite stable, chromosome stable (MACS) cancers; identifying inherited variants associated with increased cancer risk and disease severity; understanding gene-gene and gene-environment interactions, and elucidation of the genetic pathways of colorectal tumourigenesis; development of model systems with greater relevance to human disease, and their use in the testing of putative chemotherapeutic agents.

The Reconstructive Surgical and Biomaterial Group have developed and assessed several novel surgical procedures including rectal reduction (for megarectum), rectal augmentation (for urgency), the EXPRESS procedure (for rectal intussusception) and the APPEAR technique (a new ultra-low sphinctersaving procedure). The Centre has also recently developed an interest in Clostridium Difficile Infection (CDI).

Staff research interests

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Stephen A Bustin BA PhD
Professor of Molecular Science
Role of hormones and dietary factors in the maintenance of normal bowel physiology. Novel approaches to detection of bowel disease-associated pathogens

Sina Dorudi PhD FRCS FRCS(Gen)
Professor for Surgical Oncology
Improving the prognostic stratification of colorectal cancer patients following surgery and the immunology of differing colorectal cancer types.

Andrew Silver BSc (Hons) PhD
Professor for Cancer Genetics
Understanding how intestinal/anal cancers develop. Creation of model systems for drug testing and extension of molecular technologies into clinical practice.

Norman S Williams MS FRCS FMedSci
Professor of Surgery
Lead, Centre for Academic Surgery
Large bowel function in health and disease and the application of such knowledge to improve the care of patients, particularly from the surgical perspective.

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Centre for Cutaneous Research

The Centre for Cutaneous Research is one of the largest academic dermatology groups in Europe. Research within the Centre is currently organised into distinct programmes, which bring together a critical mass of clinical and non-clinical researchers under the current themes:

• Keratinocyte biology
• Tissue engineering and wound healing
• Skin cancer

Major achievements within the Centre include:

• Mechanistic evidence for the carcinogenicity of the immunosuppressive azathioprine in skin, revealing a therapy-related cancer risk.
• Evidence for human papillomavirus (HPV) modulation of AKT signalling, and a possible role for AKT2 in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
• The genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
• That Axl is a novel marker of squamous cell carcinoma.
• ABCA12 as the gene for the severe congenital skin disease Harlequin Ichthyosis resulting in the development of rapid pre-natal screening for affected families.
• RSPO4 as the gene for anonychia, therefore a key role for the Wnt pathway in nail development.
• Translational research into identification of novel new polymers to support tissue engineered skin and characterisation of survival characteristics of engineered skin on patients. Development of a Burns network.
• Promotion of cell migration by hypoxia via metalloproteinase-9 and phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase in keratinocyte migration on matrix.
• A signalling role for cadherins of the epidermal desomosome and the role of AKT signalling and its downstream pathway in skin barrier formation.
• The first description of a non gap-junction functional role for connexin 31.

Staff research interests

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David Beach PhD FRS
Professor of Stem Cell Biology
Mechanism of cell cycle control and its disregulation in cancer. More recently has focused on the problem of cellular life span control.

Virginia Hubbard MB BS (Hons) MRCP
Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist
Director of Overseas Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Dermatology
E-learning, and in particular the different methods of online communication and support for students

Victoria ML Jolliffe MA MRCP (UK) FRCS(Ed) MRCGP
Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist
Programme Director, Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Dermatology (University of London)
Trained Cambridge and London, special interest in teledermatology, e-learning and the primarysecondary care interface.

David Kelsell PhD
Professor of Human Molecular Genetics
Genetic and functional studies in inherited syndromic and non-syndromic skin diseases including research of connexins, desmosomal proteins and ABCA12.

Ian Mackenzie BDS FDSRCS PhD
Professor of Stem Cell Science
Controls of epithelial growth, epithelial stem cells, and roles of malignant stem cells in tumour growth and therapeutic survival.

Simon Myers PhD FRCS(Plast)
Clinical Senior Lecturer in Burns and Plastic Surgery
Director of Postgraduate Diploma in Aesthetic Surgery, Postgraduate Diploma in Burn Care and Certificate in Non-invasive Aesthetic Techniques
Keratinocyte biology, and wound healing, particularly in relation to burn care

Harshad Navsaria BSc MSc PhD
Professor in Cell and Tissue Engineering
The biology and clinical application of keratinocyte stem cell technologies including tissue engineering of skin for invitro toxicology.

Edel O’Toole MB PhD FRCPI DCH
Professor of Molecular Dermatology
Genetic skin diseases, signal transduction, extracellular matrix and keratinocyte migration in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)

Mike Philpott PhD
Professor for Cutaneous Biology
Lead, Centre for Cutaneous Research
The biology of the human pilosebaceous unit and the role of Gli transcription factors in skin cancer.

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Centre for Diabetes and Metabolic Medicine

The Centre has a major interest in genetic susceptibility to diabetes and related disorders. Barts and The London is at the forefront of the international gene discovery programs in these disorders (including genome-wide association scans, candidate genes, functional genomics and prevention strategies). Clinical research is underpinned by: DOH funded NE London Diabetes Local Research Network; prevention initiatives in type 1 diabetes; LADA; type 2 diabetes (T2D) focusing on the local Bangladeshi population.

Current research is focused in the following areas:

• Genetics and diabetes
• Insulin action and secretion in metabolic and cardiovascular disease
• Inositide signalling
• Stem cells

Major achievements within the Centre include:

• Discovery of novel genes associated with T2D using a genome wide association scan and the first evidence of gene to gene interaction increasing susceptibility to disease.
• A landmark study (CARDS) demonstrating the feasibility of primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in T2D using a statin.
• Establishing the role of the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases in the control of the function in insulin-sensitive tissues and in pancreatic beta cells.
• Identification of a novel signaling pathway important for insulin action in muscles and adipocytes
• Identification of the critical role of the enzyme phospholipase Cgamma1 in metastasis development.
  

Staff research interests

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Malcolm R Alison BSc PhD DSc FRCPath
Professor of Stem Cell Biology
Lead, Centre for Diabetes and Metabolic Medicine
Liver and pancreatic stem cell biology with particular reference to diabetes, end-stage fibrotic disease and cancer.

Marco Falasca
Professor in Signal Transduction
The role of phosphoinositides and their regulatory enzymes in human diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

Graham A Hitman MB BS MD FRCP
Professor of Molecular Medicine and Diabetes
Deputy Director (Research), Institute of Cell and Molecular Science
Molecular genetics of diabetes and related disorders and diabetes/cardiovascular primary prevention programmes.

David Leslie MB BS MRCS MD FRCP
Professor of Diabetes and Autoimmunity
Non-genetic factors including epigenetics causing autoimmune diabetes using unique national and international cohorts including twins.

Paolo Pozzilli MB BS MD
Visiting Clinical Research Professor
Pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.

Mary Sugden MA DPhil(Oxon) DSc (Lond)
Professor of Cellular Biochemistry
Cellular aspects of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease

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Centre for Gastroenterology

The Centre for Gastroenterology is one of the very few units that undertake research in both paediatric and adult gastroenterology. The Centre is organised as research community with principal investigators grouped into four major research groups: epithelial cell; infection, immunity and inflammation (including the genetics of inflammatory conditions); hepatology; neurogastroenterology. Tropical gastroenterology forms a strong component of the Centre with formalised links with the University of Zambia. The Centre constitutes the Gastroenterology part of the Wellcome Trust Bloomsbury Centre for Tropical Medicine.

The Centre has a longstanding tradition of research in neurogastroenterology established by Professor David Wingate in the 1970s. This group is housed in a purpose built facility, the Wingate Institute and is closely linked with the neurogastroenterology interests of the Academic Centre of Surgery.

Major achievements within the Centre include:

• Establishing the field of nutrition and gene regulation in the intestine, particularly epigenetic regulation
• Identification that the chromosomal region harbouring IL1 and IL21 underlies the susceptibility to coeliac disease using a genome wide association scan
• Elucidating the mechanism by which Dengue and Hepatitis viruses inhibit interferon signalling
• Discovering the central importance of interferongamma in the intestine resistance to infection with Cryptosporidium
• Developing a new vaccine platform to immunize against viruses
• Cerebral imaging of visceral pain; and elucidation of pain neuronal pathways from the upper GI tract in order to identify new therapeutic targets.

The Centre also teaches gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition to undergraduates. Postgraduate teaching is undertaken in the MSc Programme in Gastroenterology.

Staff research interests

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Qasim Aziz PhD FRCP
Professor of Neurogastroenterology
Director, Wingate Institute of Neurogastroenterology.
Modulation of gastrointestinal function by psychological stress.

Nicholas M Croft MB BS PhD DCH FRCPCH
Clinical Senior Lecturer in Paediatric Gastroenterology
Clinical and translational research into diseases of the paediatric gastrointestinal tract. Co-director in the UK Medicines for Children Research Network.

Graham R Foster PhD FRCP
Professor of Hepatology
Clinical studies on epidemiology and outcome of viral hepatitis. Laboratory research on hepatitis virology, interferon signalling and regulation of inflammation.

Parveen Kumar CBE BSc MD DM(Hon) FRCP FRCP(E) FICG
Professor of Clinical Medical Education
Coeliac disease.

Raymond J Playford PhD FRCPath FRCP FMedSci
Professor of Medicine
Deputy Warden (Vice Principal – NHS Liaison)
Patho-physiological mechanisms behind injury to the gastrointestinal tract

David Rampton DPhil FRCP
Professor of Clinical Gastroenterology
The inflammatory bowel diseases, ulcerative colitis Crohn’s disease.

Ian Sanderson MSc MD FRCP FRCPCH
Professor of Paediatric Gastroenterology
Lead, Centre for Gastroenterology
Nutrients and gene expression in the intestine; diets as primary treatment of Crohn’s disease.

Daniel Sifrim MD PhD
Professor of GI Physiology
Motility disorders of the oesophagus; therapeutic trials on oesophageal dysfunction

David van Heel BM BCh MA DPhil MRCP
Professor of Gastrointestinal Genetics
Genetics and immunology of coeliac disease and Crohn's disease.

Ping Wang MD PhD
Professor of Experimental Immunology
Molecular mechanisms of MHC class 1 antigen presentation and antigen-mediated molecular signalling in T cells.

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Centre for Haematology

The Centre for Haematology has developed from a broad clinical base and particular areas of clinical
excellence including Haematological malignancies and Autoimmune thrombocytopenia (ATP). The ATP research has led to the development of particular expertise in flow cytometry under Professor Marion Macey and a cross Centre interest in autoimmune disorders.

Professor Nizetic utilises a functional genomics approach to the study of effects of gene dose in human aneuploidy with an emphasis on Down’s syndrome as a model. In particular, gene dose effects of trisomy of human chromosome 21 on embryonic stem cell differentiation and cell fate, and myeloid stem cell lineages in relation to childhood leukaemia in Down syndrome are under investigation. The work involves gene expression arrays, proteomics and potentially ZF transgenic modelling.

Other research interests lie in gene therapy for haemophilia, molecular pathology of von Willebrands disease, the link between cancer and thrombosis and the mechanisms of inhibitor development in haemophilia A.

Staff research interests

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Adrian C Newland BA MB BCh MA FRCP(UK) FRCPath
Professor of Haematology
Lead, Centre for Haematology
The cell biology and genetic basis of autoimmune thrombocytopenia, and the study of apoptosis with an emphasis on leukaemia development.

Dean Nizetic MD PhD
Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology
Gene dose effects (aneuploidy and haploinsufficiency) on physiology of stem cell differentiation and pathogenesis of neuronal dysfunction and childhood leukaemia.

K John Pasi MB ChB PhD FRCP FRCPath FRCPCH
Professor of Haemostasis and Thrombosis
Gene therapy for haemophilia, molecular pathology of von Willebrands disease.

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Centre for Infectious Diseases

The Centre includes research groups investigating cutting-edge topics in microbiology, virology and immunology. Full details can be found on our website. [new window] Investigators in the centre receive blue-chip funding from MRC, Wellcome Trust, BBSRC and EUFP7, and publish in top journals.

At mucosal surfaces such as the mouth and the gut there is intimate association between the immune system, food antigens, and the resident commensal bacteria. Several groups are investigating how this relationship is regulated in health, what goes wrong in inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s disease and periodontitis, and how the immune system distinguishes between pathogens and the normal microbiota. Studies include understanding mucosal T cell biology in health and disease, how dendritic cells modulate T-cell activity, the development of unconventional T-cells, and analysis of bacterial surface macromolecules.

People who settle in east London come from many parts of the world, where TB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and AIDS (HIV) are endemic. We investigate pathogenic mechanisms, new drug targets, and strategies for improved disease prevention in both of these globally important infections. We host the Health Protection Agency National Mycobacterium Reference Unit which contributes to the Centre’s research strength on this topic. We also investigate epidemiology and pathogenic mechanisms of other organisms including varicella zoster virus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Resistance to antibiotics and antiviral agents presents a major challenge to modern medicine. We study the molecular and genetic mechanisms of resistance to antimicrobials, how resistance spreads, and novel strategies for combating resistance. Particular strengths are in drug resistant HIV and multiply antibiotic resistant gram negative bacteria.

Staff research interests

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Judy Breuer MB BS MD FRCPath
Professor of Virology
Lead, Centre for Infectious Disease
Genetics, molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of alphaherpesviruses particularly Varicella zoster virus / development of molecular diagnostics and biomarkers of infection-related diseases.

Michael A Curtis BSc PhD
Professor of Microbiology
Director, Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science
Molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis of gram negative bacteria with particular reference to oral infections.

Francis Drobniewski MB BS MA MSc PhD DTM&H FRCPath
Honorary Professor of Tuberculosis and Mycobacterial Diseases
Director Mycobacterium Reference Unit
Areas of interest are all aspects of tuberculosis, AIDS, and opportunistic infections and virulence determinants of pathogenic mycobacteria.

Lucinda Hall MSc PhD
Reader in Molecular Microbiology
Lead, Centre for Infectious Disease Molecular genetics of antibiotic resistance and microbial evolution

Thomas MacDonald PhD FRCPath FMedSci
Professor of Immunology
Dean for Research, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Immunology and inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.

Aine McKnight MiBiol MSc PhD
Professor of Viral Pathology
Interface between HIV and the immune system.

John Oxford
Professor of Virology
Pathogenicity of influenza, in particular the 1918 Spanish Influenza strain.

Tanya Parish BSc PhD
Professor of Mycobacteriology
Pathogenic mechanisms of the global pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Armine Sefton MB BS MSc ILTH MD FRCP(Edin) FRCPath
Professor of Clinical Microbiology
Programme organiser of MSc in Clinical Microbiology.

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Neuroscience Centre

The Centre has eighteen academic staff and research is focused on three interrelated topics: Trauma; Neuroinflammation and pain; Neurooncology and genomics.

Trauma
The focus is on spinal cord and peripheral nerve injury and coagulation. The group has identified several therapeutic strategies to prevent complications of injury, and to limit and repair its damage.

Neuroinflammation and pain
The main disease focus of the Neuroimmunology group is multiple sclerosis. £5 million of grants will be used to research immune tolerance strategies, develop neuroprotective and neurorestorative therapies for progressive multiple sclerosis and manipulate cannabinoid biology as a therapeutic strategy to improve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Neuro-oncology and genomics
Research includes:

• A molecular and developmental biology approach in mouse models which shows how cellular and molecular mechanisms control the development of the central nervous system and can contribute to brain tumorigenesis when deregulated.
• A study of the function of human chromosomes and the genetic basis of cancer, with the discovery
  of distinct higher order chromatin configurations and loop domains that are dependent on genedensity and transcriptional activity. Research also focuses on critical pathways involved in tumorigenesis, with an emphasis on brain tumours.

There are also active research programmes in motor neurone disease, pain, muscle regeneration, biomarkers and clinical outcomes.

Future objectives for the Centre include the establishment of research and clinical units in spinal injury and neuroinfectious diseases and further development of basic research in CNS tumour biology.

Staff research interests

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David Baker BSc PhD
Professor of Neuroimmunology
Experimental investigation of control mechanisms for neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and symptom control related to multiple sclerosis, notably via the cannabinoid biology.

Karim Brohi FRCS FRCA
Professor of Trauma Sciences
Traumatic coagulopathy and massive transfusion; damage response and activation of innate immunity; complex outcomes following trauma and posttraumatic disability; emergency preparedness and disaster management; trauma epidemiology and public health

Gavin Giovannoni MBBCh PhD FCP (Neurol.) FRCP FRCPath
Professor of Neurology
Epstein Barr virus as a possible cause of MS, MS-related neurodegeneration and MS biomarker discovery

Silvia Marino MD FMH-Path
Professor of Neuro-oncology
Molecular pathways in central nervous system development and tumourigenesis. Self renewal mechanisms in neural stem cells and in brain tumour stem cells.

Joanne Martin MA(Cantab) MB BS PhD FRCPath
Professor of Neuropathology
Lead, ICMS Pathology Group
Cellular structure of motor neurons in health and disease.

Adina Michael-Titus Lic Sci M es Sci Doct en Sci
Reader in Neuroscience and Pharmacology
Director of MSc in Translational Neuroscience Development of new neuroprotective treatments in neurotrauma and neurodegeneration with particular emphasis on strategies with translational potential

John Priestley MA(Cantab) DPhil(Oxon)
Professor of Neuroscience
Lead, Neuroscience Centre
Anatomy and neurochemistry of the spinal cord and of pain pathways, strategies to reduce cell death and promote regeneration after spinal cord injury and peripheral nerve injury.

Denise Sheer BSc(Hons) DPhil
Professor of Human Genetics
Structural and functional organisation of the human genome and the nucleus; genetic and epigenetic aberrations in cancer, currently focused on brain tumours

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Centre for Paediatrics

The Centre for Paediatrics facilitates paediatrics research, as well as Child Health teaching on the MB BS programme. We work closely with the paediatric clinical services provided by Barts and The London (BLT), the second largest paediatric services in London (Barts and The London Children’s Hospital). The Centre regularly publishes scientific findings in journals including, Nature, Nature Genetics, New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet.

Research in Paediatrics is organised into the following themes:

Haematology

The principal research interest is bone marrow failure focusing on the pathophysiology of the inherited bone marrow failure syndromes, particularly dyskeratosis congenita (DC). Studies are also being undertaken on other haematological disorders including: the pathophysiology of myelodysplasia/ leukaemia and the establishment of a clinical network for sickle cell disease in east London.

Neonatal Medicine

A major initiative within Neonatal Medicine relates to investigation of the associations between low birth weight and airway function and the underlying mechanisms. Other areas of research include:

(i) The use of Doppler ultrasound in the investigation of the neonatal circulation
(ii) The mechanisms and control of placental transport of nutrients from mother to fetus.

Respiratory and Environmental Medicine

Main research interests are paediatric asthma, and the impact of environmental pollutants on the developing lung. An environmental research group is studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the increased vulnerability to pneumococcal pneumonia in children exposed to particulate air pollution.

Staff research interests

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Kathleen Costeloe MB BCHir FRCP FRCPCH
Professor of Paediatrics
Population based health outcomes of extremely preterm infants. Prevention of hospital acquired infection in the newborn.

Inderjeet Dokal MBChB MD FRCP FRCPCH FRCPath
Chair in Child Health
Lead, Centre for Paediatrics
Pathophysiology of aplastic anaemia (AA)/bone marrow failure including dyskeratosis congenita and related disorders.

Jonathan Grigg BSc MB BS MD MRCP FRCPCH
Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and
Environmental Medicine
Particulate air pollution and children's health, management of preschool wheeze, and management of difficult asthma.

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BICMS Pathology Group

Paola Domizio BSc MB BSc FRCPath
Professor of Pathology Education
Deputy Director (Education), Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science
Gastrointestinal pathology and medical (particularly pathology) education.

Rino Cerio BSc MRCS FRCP(Lond) FRCP (Edin) FRCPath DipRCpath
Professor of Dermatopathology
Postgraduate training in dermatopathology with special interest in skin cancer, autoimmune dermatoses and management of severe psoriasis.

Stephen Greenwald BA PhD
Professor of Cardiovascular Mechanics
Mechanical factors in the genesis of arterial disease, non-invasive measurement of vascular function, foetal programming of essential hypertension.

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