Summary
I am a post-doctoral researcher in Dr Hector Keun's Cancer Metabolism group within the Division of Cancer. As a member of the group I contribute to ongoing research in the field of systems oncology with specific interest in cancer metabolism/metabolomics, lipidomics, mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis, in vitro toxicology, molecular epidemiology and stem cell metabolism.
KEY SKILLS
- Systems Oncology
- Cancer Metabolism. Specifically, cancer metabolism during nutrient starvation
- Metabolomics: LC-MS, GC-MS & NMR
- Lipidomics
- Bioinformatics on large data sets (MS EXCEL, MATLAB & R)
- In vitro cell culture and molecular biology ( i.e. PCR, Western blotting, ELISA, TLC & Northern blotting)
Postgraduate Study
Studies on the Molecular Basis of Methyl Eugenol Carcinogenicity
I studied for a PhD in Biomolecular Medicine at Imperial College London. My thesis was concerned with the carcinogenicity of a naturally occurring food borne genotoxin (methyl eugenol). Primarily I defined the lower limit of genotoxic effect of the compound using 32P-Postlabelling to identify DNA adducts in the liver and stomach of the Fischer rat. This information will aid in the decision process when assessing the safety of methyl eugenol in humans.
Undergraduate Study
I studied Biochemistry at University College London in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. My final year project was concerned with differential gene expression in the regenerating urodele amphibian (newt) limb.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Keun H, Koufaris C, Ellis J, et al., 2015, Systematic integration of molecular profiles identifies miR-22 as a regulator of lipid and folate metabolism in breast cancer cells, Oncogene, Vol:35, ISSN:1476-5594, Pages:2766-2776
Trousil S, Lee P, Pinato DJ, et al., 2014, Alterations of choline phospholipid metabolism in endometrial cancer are caused by choline kinase alpha overexpression and a hyperactivated deacylation pathway, Cancer Research, Vol:74, ISSN:0008-5472, Pages:6867-6877
Stewart JD, Marchan R, Lesjak MS, et al., 2012, Choline-releasing glycerophosphodiesterase EDI3 drives tumor cell migration and metastasis, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:109, ISSN:0027-8424, Pages:8155-8160
Ellis JK, Athersuch TJ, Thomas LD, et al., 2012, Metabolic profiling detects early effects of environmental and lifestyle exposure to cadmium in a human population., Bmc Medicine, Vol:10, Pages:61-61