Research
Cell signalling in hypoxia
My research focuses on the cellular response to environmental O2 level variations and their impact on cell fate. As the environment in solid tumours is hypoxic, or subject to episodes of hypoxia and re-oxygenation, my research has direct significance to cancer. I work across scales from single molecule to small organism, using advanced imaging technologies to elucidate the role of hypoxia on cancer cell phenotype. Building on collaborations with leading national clinical institutions (the Alder Hey children hospital and the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre), I have concentrated on the effects of hypoxia in paediatric (neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma) and brain tumours (glioblastoma).
Research grants
Evaluation of novel combination drug protocols for neuroblastoma using advanced imaging in a chick embryo model
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S CHARITY (UK), NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
January 2018 - May 2021
Understanding Drug Resistance in Paediatric and Adult Brain Tumours
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S CHARITY (UK)
October 2018 - December 2018
A multimodal imaging platform with real-time super-resolution for research across the life sciences
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
May 2018 - April 2019
The chick embryo – A new versatile experimental model to study the biology of Neuroblastoma and targeted therapies
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND(UK)
February 2017 - January 2018
The chick embryo – A new versatile experimental model to study the biology of Neuroblastoma and targeted therapies
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S CHARITY (UK)
October 2016 - March 2018
2014 allocation - Wellcome ISSF non clinical fellowships
WELLCOME TRUST (UK)
May 2015 - October 2018
Development of New Mathematical Sciences Capabilities for Healthcare Technologies
ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL
December 2015 - April 2021
Bench fees for Yousef Al-Mutawa MPhil
THE CULTURAL OFFICE OF THE EMBASSY OF THE STATE OF KUWAIT (UK)
September 2015 - August 2016
Mechanisms of multidrug resistance proteins transcription in neuroblastoma cells
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (UK)
November 2010 - October 2012
Mechanism and consequences of MYCN down regulation in neuroblastoma cells in vivo and in vitro
NEUROBLASTOMA (UK)
October 2012 - April 2014
How does the embryonic environment control MYCN expression in neuroblastoma cells?
NEUROBLASTOMA RESEARCH FUND (UK)
May 2012 - May 2013
University of Liverpool Institutional Discipline Bridging.
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
October 2003 - October 2006
Establishment of a lent viral system
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S CHARITY (UK)
January 2014 - February 2014
Liverpool BioAFM: an integrated optical and atomic force microscope for research across the life sciences
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
January 2015 - January 2016
Neuroblastoma Molecular Research
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (UK)
November 2007 - October 2009
Live cell imaging and system biology approaches to understand the role of hypoxia-dependent signalling in brain tumour aggressiveness
NASEEM'S MANX BRAIN TUMOUR CHARITY (ISLE OF MAN)
October 2012 - September 2016
Elucidation of non-coding miRNAs transcription in medulloblastoma and their role in response to chemotherapeutic treatment.
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (UK)
January 2010 - June 2013
Exploiting the embryonic environment to reprogram cancer stem cells in neuroblastoma
NEUROBLASTOMA (UK)
October 2008 - September 2012
Molecular and cellular understanding of AT/RT to improve therapeutic outcomes
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (UK)
October 2010 - September 2012
CIC bioGUNE / University of Liverpool PhD programme for 2012/13
CIC BIOGUNE (SPAIN)
October 2012 - December 2016
Dynamics and function of the NF-kappaB signalling system
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
May 2008 - July 2014
Advanced in vivo imaging and transcriptomic analysis of neuroblastoma metastasis in a chick embryo model
NEUROBLASTOMA (UK)
October 2014 - February 2018
From calcium to gene transcription: elucidation of spatio-temporal encoding of intracellular signals in neuronal cells.
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
September 2005 - January 2011
Live monitoring of cancer cell migration and invasion in an in vivo chick embryo model
CANCER RESEARCH UK (UK)
April 2012 - March 2013
Imaging of molecular dynamics and cell fate to identify new targets for Medulloblastoma therapy
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (UK)
November 2009 - May 2010
Fluorescence Light Sheet Microscopy for Live 3D and 4D imaging
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
January 2014 - June 2014
Role of Nibrin in medulloblastoma sensitivity to chemo-and radiotherapy and its potential as a prognostic marker for medulloblastoma patients.
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S CHARITY (UK)
October 2014 - September 2018
Exploiting apoptotic regulation of normal neural development to force cell death in refractory neuroblastoma
NEUROBLASTOMA (UK)
January 2007 - December 2009
Role of hypoxia in paediatric tumour cells migration, adhesion and invasion
ALDER HEY CHILDREN'S NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (UK)
June 2013 - September 2014
Developing a collaborative resource for ChIP based analyses of cancer related transcriptional networks
CANCER RESEARCH UK (UK)
April 2012 - March 2013
Liverpool Imaging Partnership: Molecular physiology and drug response
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
February 2013 - February 2017
A systems biology study of E2F and NF-kappaB cross-talk
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
February 2010 - April 2014
Development of live cell imaging from single cells to single molecules
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
September 2007 - August 2010
Imaging of molecular dynamics and cell fate to identify new targets for Medullobladtoma therapy
SAMANTHA DICKSON BRAIN TUMOUR TRUST (UK)
November 2006 - November 2009
Research collaborations
D Moss
injection of cancer cells into a chick embryo model
Daniel Stiehl
University of Zurich
M Brust
fate of gold nanoparticles inside living cells
R Bearon
mathematical modelling of hypoxia dependent signalling pathway
S Edwards
role and dynamic localisation of Mcl-1 in brain tumours
M Cross
calcium measurement in endothelial cells
R Wilson
Q-dots delivery and imaging in living cells
C Giovannangelli
Natural History Museum
design of triplex forming oligonucleotides for gold nanoparticles
Dr AL Boutillier
Universite Louis Pasteur
chromatin remodeling during neuronal differentiation
B. Pizer
Alder Hey Hospital
Intracellular signalling in neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma
H. Mc Dowell
Alder Hey Hospital
intracellular signalling in neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma
R Levy
imaging of nanoparticules in living cells
M. Faria
Institut Quimica, Sao-Paulo
calcium measurement during neuronl differentiation
H. Bito
The University of Tokyo
calcium-dependent signalling in primary neurons