In keeping with the strategy of the Institute to gain synergistic value through the development of inter-disciplinary themes, i n 2006 the Initiative in Stem Cell Biology was launched which traverses each of the component Research Centres within the Institute and extends beyond to incorporate researchers from other QMUL components (e.g. Bio-engineering) and linked Institutes (Institute of Cancer). The aim of the Initiative is to consolidate and expand an internationally competitive research programme in areas including adult stem cell plasticity, stem cell re-differentiation and trans-differentiation, bioreactors and stem cell amplification, and stem cell targeting.

Within the Institute, several well established groups are working on adult tissue stem cells and have expertise in a range of stem cell systems including:

Intestinal stem cells (Nick Wright, Andy Silver)

Epithelial stem cells (Mike Philpott, Ian Mackenzie, Kristin Braun, Hong Wan)

Malignant stem cells (Nick Wright, Ian Mackenzie, Malcolm Alison)

Pancreatic stem cells (Malcolm Alison, Paolo Pozzilli)

Haemopoietic stem cells (Adrian Newland, Dean Nizetic)

Hair stem cells (Mike Philpott, Graham Neill, Kristin Braun)

Genetics of stem cells (David Beach)

Mesenchymal stem cells (Harry Navsaria)

Neural stem cells (Silvia Marino, Dean Nizetic)

Embryonic stem cells (Dean Nizetic)

Inherited stem cell disorders (Inderjeet Dokal, Tom Vulliamy)

 

Other centres of stem cell expertise within QMUL include:

Institute of Cancer (Ian Hart, Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke and David Prowse)

Institute of Dentistry (Francis Hughes, Ian McKay)

Bio-engineering (Dan Bader, David Lee)

William Harvey Research Institute (Anthony Mathur, Ken Suzuki)

As part of the Initiative a fortnightly seminar is held on Tuesday afternoons with internal and external speakers. We have also established a highly successful annual Cancer Stem Cells Symposium in partnership with Abcam. This symposium attracts international speakers and delegates and has been highly acclaimed.

Among the participating groups, Cutaneous Research has a wide-ranging programme of stem cell research including that of Ian Mackenzie (periodontal regeneration and stem cell behaviour in malignant tissues), David Beach FRS discovered the tumour suppressor genes p21 and p16 and now focuses on the problem of cellular life span control, Kristin Braun, (cell lineage relationships in epidermis and liver), Harshad Navsaria (application of tissue engineered skin in animal models and patients), Mike Philpott and Graham Neill (Hedgehog signalling in epithelial tumour development). In Diabetes, Malcolm Alison have developed novel ways of lineage tracing in human tissue and have extensive external collaborations (MD Turnbull (mtDNA, University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Dr Frank Martin (infrared microspectroscopy, University of Lancaster) and Prof. Susan Lim (b-cells from MSCs, CEO Stem Cell technologies (i), Singapore). In Neuroscience, Silvia Marino's group focuses on the biology of neural stem cells and their role in tumour progression.In Paediatrics, Inderjeet Dokal and Tom Vulliamy are investigating telomerase and stem cell dysfunction in Dyskeratosis Congenita and related inherited disorders. Taken together, the Initiative brings together a quite unique blend of scientists exploring the impact of stem cells in human disease. Dean Nizetic's group uses mouse embryonic stem cells for in vitro differentiation to erythroid/megakaryocytic lineages, as a cellular model for the study of pathogenesis of childhood leukaemia associated with Down Syndrome (DS). The Nizetic lab participated in the generation of a unique mouse model for DS, the first mouse to contain the human chromosome 21 (HSA21). This mouse model (article in Science 23/09/05) represents a major scientific breakthrough in research into aneuploidies, and was chosen by Guardian science commentators as the worldwide number one scientific breakthrough for 2005.

In the William Harvey Institute Anthony Mathur is a PI on the UK's largest clinical trials for Stem cells in the treatment of cardiac disease and also collaborates with Ken Suzuki.

If you would like to discuss the Initiative in Stem Cell Biology, please contact Professor Ian Mackenzie (tel: +44 (0)20 7882 7159, email: i.c.mackenzie@qmul.ac.uk).