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The William Harvey Research Institute - Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

Dr James Whiteford

James

Reader in Extracellular Matrix Biology, Director of Graduate Studies

Centre: Microvascular Research

Email: j.whiteford@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0) 20 7882 3909
Website: https://www.centre-for-microvascular-research.com/whiteford-lab
Twitter: @LabWhiteford

Profile

James Whiteford graduated in Applied Biology from King’s College London in 1994 and obtained his PhD from King’s College London in 1998. Following post-doctoral research at Imperial College London and Copenhagen University (Denmark) he joined the Centre for Microvascular Research and was awarded an Arthritis Research UK career development fellowship in 2009. He obtained his Lectureship at the William Harvey Research Institute in 2014, and obtained his Senior Lectureship in 2016.

Memberships and Awards

  • Chairman London Matrix Biology Group
  • BSMB Organising Committee Member
  • Editor British Journal of Pharmacology
  • Editor Pharmacology Research and Perspectives
  • Editor Frontiers in Immunology

Research

Summary

Our teams’ research focuses on angiogenesis, which is the process by which new blood vessels are formed from existing ones. Angiogenesis is a critical process in numerous diseases including cancer, diseases of the eye and inflammatory disorders such as Rheumatoid Arthritis. For some years we have been studying the role of the syndecan family of cell surface receptors in new blood vessel formation and inflammation with the aim of discovering therapeutic innovations which can modify this process to improve disease outcomes. We are currently developing a novel therapy for Wet-Age Related macular Degeneration and are also investigating the potential of our reagents as therapies for both arthritis and cancer.

Group members

Dr Faheem Shaik, Dr Samantha Arokiasamy, Miss Michaela Balderstone and Miss Nikayla Patel.

Key Publications

For a full list of publications click here

  • Ma, B., Whiteford, J.R., Nourshargh, S. & Woodfin A. “Underlying chronic inflammation alters the profile and mechanisms of acute neutrophil recruitment.” J Pathol. 240 (2016) :291-303. 
  • Whiteford, J.R., De Rossi, G., Woodfin, A. “Mutually Supportive Mechanisms of Inflammation and Vascular Remodeling.” Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 326 (2016):201-78
  • De Rossi, G & Whiteford J.R. “Syndecans in angiogenesis and endothelial cell biology” Biochem Soc Trans. 42 (2014):1643-46.
  • Kay, E., Garcia Gomez, L., Woodfin, A., Scotland, R.S. & Whiteford, J.R. "Sexual dimorphisms in leukocyte trafficking in a mouse peritonitis model." J Leukoc Biol. 98 (2015): 805-17. 
  • Gopinathan, G., Milagre, C., Pearce O.M.T., Reynolds L.E, Hodivala-Dilke, K., Leinster, A.D., Zhong, H., Hollingsworth R.E., Thompson, R., Whiteford, J.R. &  Balkwill, F. “Interleukin-6 stimulates defective angiogenesis.” Cancer Res. 75 (2015) :3098-107. 
  • De Rossi, G., Evans, A.R., Kay, E., Woodfin, A., McKay, T.R., Nourshargh, S. & Whiteford J.R. “Shed syndecan-2 inhibits angiogenesis.” J Cell Sci. 127 (2014): 4788-99. 

Sponsors

Arthritis Research UK    Barts and The London Charity   Queen Mary InnovationFight for Sight

Collaborators

  • Dr Tero Järvinen (University of Tampere, Finland)
  • Prof James Bainbridge (UCL, UK)

Teaching

  • Module Lead on BMD211 Pharmacology and IT BSc Degree Programme
  • BMD175 ‘Research Skills for Pharmacologists’
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