Lab News

Funding to build a Single-Cell Multi-omic and Spatial Cell Atlas of Pediatric Skin

We need to understand what a disease is — down to the level of our cells — to better treat and manage it. As part of the Human Cell Atlas consortium, we were awarded significant funding from the CZI to build a Single-Cell Multi-omic and Spatial Cell Atlas of Pediatric Skin.

In this project, led by Prof Muzlifah Haniffa (Newcastle University and Wellcome Sanger Institute), we will be cataloging skin and oral mucosa cells in healthy tissues from birth to late childhood to establish an important repository of single-cell multi-omics and spatial data of pediatric skin and oral tissues samples, which will be freely accessible to enhance research and clinical translation. As Co-coordinator of the Human Cell Atlas Oral and Craniofacial Bionetwork, Dr Sequeira will liaise with the team for scRNA-seq and Spatial Transcriptomics data analysis, with special focus on the oral epithelia and the transition between skin and oral epithelia. More info here.

Say CHEEEESE!

Nothing better than a nice Wine & Cheese gathering to celebrate the new arrivals to the lab: John Macken as clinical PhD student, Rana Alaa on the Newton-Mosharafa PhD Programme and the return of Mara Gelmetti after her rotations as part of the MRC-DTP PhD Programme.

First Post-pandemic Conference

The lab attended their first in-person meeting and how good it felt to reconnect with our colleagues at the 4th London Stem Cell Network Symposium at The Francis Crick Institute.

Mara Gelmetti presented her project on the role of Krt76 in T cells development, a fantastic collaboration with Dr Paola Bonfanti at the Crick. Fantastic setup for discussions !

Spatial ! !

Congratulations to Raju Kumar and the lab for receiving the AkoyaBio spatial phenotyping grant to apply CODEX to study oral cancer. Exciting times ahead!

Lab life

Now that COVID restrictions are easing and we are able to go out for a meal, we had a backlog of events to celebrate. Diana and Raju’s birthdays, new grants and Mara’s successful PhD rotation report.

Congratulations to all !

Barts Centre for Squamous Cancer

We have received generous funding of £2.64 million from Barts Charity to create the Barts Centre for Squamous Cancer, a new centre of excellence within Queen Mary dedicated to improving detection, treatment, and quality of life for patients with squamous cancer. The Barts Centre for Squamous Cancer brings together research groups with diverse expertise from across QMUL to tackle key research questions in squamous cancer and drive clinical innovation. Our work will span three major themes: 1) epidemiology, including identifying high risk groups, 2) understanding the biology of squamous cancer, and 3) diagnostics and clinical management. This will encompass cancers of largely unmet clinical need, including oral and oesophageal cancer. You can read more about our research themes here. To launch the new centre, we held a virtual symposium with a series of exciting talks showcasing cutting edge squamous cancer research. The video can be found here. We are recruiting new academic roles within our centre and invite candidates with an interest in molecular carcinogenesis, translational cancer research, or oral cancer epidemiology to get in touch to discuss their potential fit within our centre.

New paper out ! ! - November 2020

The study, recently published in Nature Communications, is a comprehensive analysis of tumour genomics and microenvironment of a model for oral cancer. In a great collaboration between the Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine, the Sanger Institute and the Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University London, we have identified the recurrently mutated genes in oral cancer and correlated how specific mutations are linked to tumour invasiveness or increased number of immune cells in the tumour microenvironment. Using computational tools to analyse different tumour mutations, we found that high genetic heterogeneity may be a feature of early lesions that are likely to progress to more aggressive tumours. This study provides a foundation for exploring oral cancer evolution, heterogeneity and progression. Check out the paper here. More info

New lab member - March 2020

Diana Pereira joined the lab now set up at the Blizard Building. She joins as a Research Assistant from the Programme INOV Contacto. Welcome Diana!

New paper out ! ! - February 2020

In a fantastic collaboration with the lab of Maria Kasper, we have mapped gene expression of all skin cells using single-cell RNA sequencing. Examining tissue from the skin and its hair-producing hair follicles at different stages of hair growth, we uncovered how cells are coordinated during the phases of hair growth and rest. Check out the paper here and the fantastic Skin gene expression tool here.

Moving in - January 2020

We are getting installed in our new lab space at the Institute of Dentistry - Blizard Building. Beautiful award-winning building with open plan arrangement that maximizes the exchanges between the research groups promoting the development of interdisciplinary projects. Explore the Blizard Institute and the beautiful library here.