We invite you to join us online on Thursday 7th March, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM

In this webinar series, presented by the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre at Imperial College London and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, researchers from both institutions will discuss key challenges facing cancer research and the potential of convergence science to tackle them. Join us to discover how innovative approaches and cutting-edge technologies can elucidate unresolved questions in cancer biology, revolutionise cancer research, and bring pioneering treatments to cancer patients faster.

 

Hosted exceptionally for this session by Professor Darryl Overby, this series aims to fulfil the Centre's mission of fostering collaboration between traditionally separate disciplines.

 

We invite you to join us online on Thursday, March 21^st, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, for a presentation by:

 

 

 

Dr Alex Radzisheuskaya – Division of Cancer Biology, The Institute of Cancer Research

 

"Unravelling the roles of histone acetyltransferases KAT6A and KAT6B in gene expression, cell homeostasis and cancer"

 

Cancer cells often have altered epigenomes and mutations in genes that encode chromatin-modifying enzymes. This highlights the importance of chromatin structure in defining cell phenotype. Histone acetyltransferases KAT6A and KAT6B are focally amplified in over 5% of all cancers, while chromosomal translocations that generate KAT6A- or KAT6B-containing fusion proteins can induce acute myeloid leukaemia. Despite these recognised oncogenic roles, the molecular mechanisms of the cancer-driving activities of these enzymes are not well understood. In this presentation, I will share our early insights into the functions of KAT6A and KAT6B in normal cells and acute myeloid leukaemia. 

 

Alex completed her PhD in 2014 at the University of Cambridge. Her research there focused on understanding the mechanisms of induced pluripotency. After that, Alex joined Professor Kristian Helin's laboratory at the Biotech Research and Innovation Center in Copenhagen for her postdoctoral research. In 2018, she moved with the lab to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She was supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Postdoc Fellowship and EMBO Long-Term Postdoc Fellowship during her postdoctoral work.

At the end of 2021, Alex moved to the ICR as an ICR fellow. In 2023, she was awarded an ERC Starting grant. Her research at the ICR focuses on understanding how post-translational modifications on histone proteins regulate genome organisation and stability and how they contribute to the development of cancer.

 

 &

 

Professor Jesus Gil – MRC LMS, Imperial College London

 

“Cellular senescence as a therapeutic target”

 

Senescent cells are present in cancerous and fibrotic tissues and are associated with multiple age-related diseases. Recently, drugs that selectively kill senescent cells, termed senolytics, have proven beneficial in improving the outcomes of many of these pathologies. While the potential of senotherapies is great, there are several limitations to translating them to the clinic. In particular, we need to understand better the complex biology of senescence, identify effective senolytics and ways to detect senescent cells. I will describe functional approaches that my lab has employed to identify senotherapies and how we can take advantage of machine learning to detect senescence.

 

Jesús Gil was born in Zaragoza, Spain. He obtained his PhD studying how the dsRNA- dependent protein kinase induces apoptosis and activates NF-kB, in 2000 at the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid. From 2000 to 2003 he worked with David Beach at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College London, where he screened for genes bypassing senescence, identifying CBX7. In January 2004, he joined Gordon Peters' group at the CRUK London Research Institute, investigating how CBX7 regulates the INK4/ARF locus. During 2005 he visited Scott Lowe's laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor, New York, developing models to study CBX7 function in vivo. Since Nov. 2005 he leads the Cell Proliferation Group at the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (MRC LMS) were his main interest is to understands how senescence is regulated. His laboratory studies the molecular pathways regulating senescence and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) and their pathophysiological implications. To this end they use different mammalian systems of senescence and a variety of strategies to perform functional screens. The ultimate end is to understand the molecular mechanisms controlling senescence and exploit them for therapeutic benefit. In 2008, Jesús was named an EMBO Young Investigator. He got tenured in 2010 and in 2011 obtained the EACR Cancer researcher Award ’highly commended’. Since 2013 he is a Professor at Imperial College where it heads the Department of Molecular Sciences at the Institute of Clinical Sciences. He is a named inventor on several patents on senolytics and have collaborated with different companies on the development of senolytic drugs.

 

 

Please note: This webinar is exclusively available to colleagues from the Institute of Cancer Research, the Royal Marsden, Imperial and Imperial College Healthcare. Do not forward to colleagues outside of these organisations.