Research
Stress Response Lab
Research in the Stress Response Lab focuses on understanding the mechanisms that drive cellular stress responses and how these influence both beneficial and adverse effects of medicines. These stress responses include the oxidative stress response, endoplasmic reticulum stress (unfolded protein) response, DNA damage response and autophagy.
Our goal is to harness the increasing understanding of these pathways to enhance the treatment of patients in a number of disease settings, by improving the effectiveness and/or reducing the toxic side effects of drugs. We have a particular interest in liver disease and drug-induced liver injury, but are open to collaboration in other areas.
For more details of work in the Stress Response Lab, see here.
Group Members
We are a diverse team currently comprising 4 PhD students, 3 post-docs and 1 technician from different backgrounds. We have a culture of transparency, ethical responsibility and openness. Several past and present members of the group have won prizes for their work from national and international societies (see below).
Current group members (L-R):
# Giusy Russomanno (Post-doc)
# Hannah Coghlan (PhD student)
# Rob Young (PhD student)
# Olivia Harris (PhD student)
# Rowena Sison-Young (Post-doc/HLRF manager)
# Georgina Gregory (Post-doc)
# Karolina Kwiatkowska (PhD student; not shown)
# Ben Austin (Part-time technician; not shown)
In addition, since 2013 I have been primary supervisor for:
# 5 post-docs
# 7 PhD students
# 5 MRes students
# 1 MSc student
# +20 BSc research project students
Achievements of current/previous group members:
# 2024: Giusy Russomanno – Post-doc poster prize, British Toxicology Society annual congress.
# 2023: Hannah Coghlan – Oral communication prize, British Toxicology Society annual congress.
# 2023: Hannah Coghlan – EUROTOX Gordon Research Conference travel award.
# 2023: Giusy Russomanno – Poster prize, ISMIB Institute away day.
# 2022: Hannah Coghlan – Basic science presentation prize, Department postgraduate research day.
# 2022: Benjamin Chan – Oral communication prize, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons annual scientific meeting.
# 2019: Lucia Livoti – Oral communication prize, British Toxicology Society annual congress.
# 2019: Benajmin Chan – Oral communication prize, Liverpool & North West Surgical Society annual meeting.
# 2019: Benjamin Chan – Oral communication prize, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons annual scientific meeting.
# 2016: Olivia Matthews – British Pharmacological Society summer studentship.
Example destinations of previous group members:
# Tobias Bunday (PhD student) -> Translational Scientist, Sygnature Discovery
# Adedamola Olayanju (Post-doc) -> Senior Scientist, Manchester BIOGEL
# Fiona Mutter (PhD student) -> Post-doc, University of Greifswald, Germany
# Charles Winiarski (Post-doc) -> Business Development Manager, Manchester Inward Investment Agency
# Luke Shelton (PhD student) -> Post-doc, Radboud University Medical Center, the Netherlands
# Olivia Matthews (BPS undegraduate summer student) -> PhD student, University of Ediniburgh
Research grants
Cross sector experience award
THE ACADEMY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (UK)
September 2024 - August 2025
Biomarker discovery to enable the non-invasive monitoring of NRF2 activator therapies in humans
INNOVATION LAUNCHPAD NETWORK+
July 2025 - December 2025
A new mechanism of redox regulation in Ser/Thr protein kinases
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
March 2023 - July 2026
A platform to support the pharmacological targeting of Nrf2 in humans
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
January 2023 - December 2027
Unravelling species differences in stress responses to inform the selection, and reduce the use, of animals in preclinical drug safety testing
ASTRAZENECA LIMITED (UK)
October 2021 - September 2025
TransQST: Translational quantitative systems toxicology to improve the understanding of the safety of medicines
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
January 2017 - August 2022
Preclinical evaluation of Nrf2 inhibition as a means to improve chemotherapeutic efficacy in patients with pancreatic cancer
PANCREATIC CANCER RESEARCH FUND (UK)
February 2016 - January 2020
Mechanistic investigation and risk:benefit analysis of the use of brusatol as a novel adjuvant for overcoming cisplatin resistance in bladder cancer
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
February 2016 - February 2018
Regulation of irinotecan anti-cancer pharmacology by Nrf2 – Implications for current use and potential for improved efficacy
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH FUND
February 2014 - February 2016
Definition of chemical and molecular mechanisms of cytotoxicity induced by next-generation synthetic endoperoxide antimalarials, through the use of novel imaging-based approaches
ROYAL SOCIETY (CHARITABLE)
September 2011 - October 2011
Research collaborations
Prof Scott Friedman
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Drug safety in steatotic liver disease
Prof Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg
Karolinska Institute
3D in vitro human liver models
Dr Tom Kensler
Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Nrf2 pharmacology & biomarker discovery
Dr Ciaran Fisher
GSK
Quantitative systems toxicology modelling of drug-induced liver injury
Prof Carolyn Young
Walton Centre
Pharmacodynamic biomarkers of Nrf2
Mr Steve Fenwick / Mr Hassan Malik / Mr Rob Jones / Mr Rafa Diez Neto
Aintree University Hospital
Human liver tissue and primary hepatocytes
Prof Andy Jones
Computational biology of stress response pathways
Prof Chris Goldring
Mechanisms and biomarkers of adverse drug reactions