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Abdolrahman Shams Nateri

Associate Professor in Cancer Genetics & Stem Cells, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

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Biography

After graduating with a BSc in Human Genetics from Ahvaz/ Tehran University and an MSc in Cell & Molecular Genetics from the University of Essex, Dr Nateri completed a PhD on the genetic engineering of Picornavirus under the supervision of Prof Glyn Stanway in 2001. After receiving the Cancer Research UK Postdoctoral fellowship, he joined the Adult Stem Cell laboratory under the supervision of Prof Axel Behrens at the London Research Institute (previously known as ICRF), where his research into exploring the links between transcription, signalling & diseases, identified FBXW7 E3-Ligase and TCF4/b-catenin as novel interacting protein to modulate the activity of AP-1 transcription factor, c-Jun, and highlighted their critical role in cell biology and cancer development and progression (Science. 2004; 303:1374-8, Nature. 2005; 437:281-5).

Dr Nateri was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham's School of Medicine and joined the Centre for Cancer Sciences (previously known as the Division of Preclinical Oncology) in 2007 and was awarded the New Investigator Research Grant (NIRG) from MRC in 2008.

He currently leads the Cancer Genetics & Stem Cell laboratory as an Associate Professor with a grant portfolio of over £2.5m from MRC, CRUK and NC3Rs and international funders. Key collaborations include Hubrecht Institute and Crick Institute on research programmes in molecular mechanism, modelling early detection and identifying drugs targeting cellular heterogeneity and signalling arise from complex genetic, epigenetic, secretome, and metabolic modifications under the influence of the tumour microenvironment in gastrointestinal (GI) neoplastic & non-neoplastic disorders.

His affiliation with professional bodies includes membership on the Evaluation Committee for the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) (2018-present), the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) (2019-present), and the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) (2016-present).

Expertise Summary

Studying molecular and cellular oncology and applying cross-platforms of early and advanced patient-derived based technologies (Organoids, Explants, and Mini-rings) to target cancer stem-like cells and the tumour microenvironment for early detection, detect markers to identify cancer metastasis risks and drug resistance and to develop potentially better drug treatment options and personalized medicine applications.

Teaching Summary

I'm teaching postgraduate MSc courses (Molecular Oncology, Cancer Immunology and Biotechnology, and Stem Cell Technology and Regenerative Medicine) and undergraduates courses (Cancer Science,… read more

Research Summary

My research group are broadly interested in two research themes:

  1. Molecular and Cellular Oncology ─ Adult stem cell fate/ niche control and signals integration in inflammation, colorectal, pancreatic, and leukemic cancers biology with focuses on;
  • F-box E3 ligases linked with epigenetic modifiers HP1BP3 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mediator ZEB2 and Wnt/FLWYCH1 signalling.
  • Functional genomics using CRISPR/Cas9-based screening.
  • Bioengineering, extracellular matrix and cellular metabolism with a focus on the SPOCK protein family.
  1. The discovery of new cancer drugs ─ focuses on developing approaches and methods to screen effectively and investigate microenvironment components, including stromal and cancer stem-like cells, the evolution of drug resistance, and leverage drug response data for precision medicine applications using tumour patient-derived organoid, explant, and mini-ring platforms.

Selected Publications

Essex Council SMART prize 2000

CRUK - Hardiman Redon prize 2006

Attending and presenting at several national institutes & international conferences, e.g. Cancer conferences in Germany, Greece and China, May 2018, Dec 2019, etc.

I'm teaching postgraduate MSc courses (Molecular Oncology, Cancer Immunology and Biotechnology, and Stem Cell Technology and Regenerative Medicine) and undergraduates courses (Cancer Science, Biochemistry and Medicine) across multiple modules for:

Oncogenes & Tumour Suppressor Genes

Gene Expression & Transcriptional Regulation

The Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway and E3-Ligases in Cancer

Investigating Cancer Genome

Genome Editing Technology in functional gene screening and drug discovery.

Preclinical Cancer Models

Precision Medicine in Cancer

Past Research

My group previously focused on exploring the molecular mechanism for tumour initiation and cell-based functional gene analysis. We combined the basic and translational research in a cell and tissue-specific manner (physiology and related disease pathology). We were studying transgenic animal tumour models, primary mouse organoids and HSC cells cultures, using an ex-vivo lentiviral-based Cre/LoxP system, proteomic and the screening of protein-protein interactions, and gene arrays.

We aimed; 1) to develop strategies to expand adult stem cells in vitro and obtain insights into the development and the pathological events that lead to cancer. 2) to understand the molecular mechanism of the links between signalling and cancer-associated gene expression regulation via transcription and post-translation modifications that control the heterogeneity of normal and cancer stem-like cell /progenitor cells. 3) to develop transgenic and tissue-specific genetically modified animal models for tumour growth and metastasis formation.

Future Research

My research group are broadly interested in two research themes:

1) Molecular and Cellular Oncology ─ Adult stem cell fate/ niche control and signals integration in inflammation, colorectal, pancreatic, and leukemic cancers biology with focuses on;

  • F-box E3 ligases linked with epigenetic modifiers HP1BP3 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mediator ZEB2 and Wnt/FLWYCH1 signalling.
  • Functional genomics using CRISPR/Cas9-based screening.
  • Bioengineering, extracellular matrix and cellular metabolism with a focus on the SPOCK protein family.

2) The discovery of new cancer drugs ─ focuses on developing approaches and methods to screen effectively and investigate microenvironment components, including stromal and cancer stem-like cells, the evolution of drug resistance, and leverage drug response data for precision medicine applications using tumour patient-derived organoid, explant, and mini-ring platforms.

School of Medicine

University of Nottingham
Medical School
Nottingham, NG7 2UH

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