Previous Team Members
Bruno Reynolds
|
Postdoctoral Researcher 2006-2009 E-mail: brn.rnlds@gmail.com Bruno did his MSc in Neuroscience at University College London and PhD at the University of Cambridge in Developmental Biology. He joined the Goberdhan lab as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist, funded by Cancer Research UK. Bruno was involved in a collaboration with Richard Boyd’s group. Bruno focused on investigating the functions of the proton-assisted and heterodimeric families of amino acid transporters and their relevance to cancer cell growth, primarily in Drosophila melanogaster1,3, R1-3. Bruno then moved to Portugal where he studies for an MBA at the University of Lisbon and founded a technology transfer company. He is now a Senior Consultant at Oxentia, the consultancy arm of Oxford University Innovation. |
|
|
|
MARGRÉT HELGA ÖGMUNDSDÓTTIR
|
DPhil student 2006-2010 Christ Church and Lincoln Colleges E-mail: mho@hi.is Margrét did her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of Iceland, and joined the Goberdhan lab in 2006. During her first year she successfully competed for a Newton Abraham Studentship and Overseas Research Student Award to fund her remaining studies. Her DPhil work was focused on elucidating the role of the PAT transporters in mTORC1 signaling in cancer, mainly using fruit flies as a model organism2-3, R2-3. During her time in Oxford she rowed for the Oxford University boat club, enjoying early mornings at the river and earned a half-blue. Following post-doctoral work on transcriptional regulation in melanoma, Margrét now runs her own lab at the University of Iceland, with a focus on the role of autophagy in cancer. Margrét lives in the capital, Reykjavík with her husband Þorvarður and three children, Valgerður, Sveinn and Erla Kristín. She enjoys hiking and skiing with her family whenever a moment arises. |
|
|
|
Shubana Kazi
|
Postdoctoral Researcher 2008-2010 E-mail: shubanakazi@hotmail.com Shubana did her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. She joined the Goberdhan lab as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist, funded by Cancer Research Technology, now known as Cancer Research UK’s Commercial Partnerships. Shubana was a key player in helping the lab to start working with human cell lines. She worked on the PAT transporters and was involved in characterizing their role in promoting mTORC1-mediated growth in human cell lines1,-3, R3. She moved back to industry after leaving the lab, working on developing point of care diagnostic assays as Assay Development manager in Manchester. She now works in Glasgow as a R&D Manager at QCMD, an organization which specializes in the provision and management of proficiency testing programmes in over hundred and twenty countries. |
|
|
|
SABINE HEUBLEIN
|
Erasmus Visiting student and Master’s Diploma project 2008-2010 E-mail: sabine.heublein@med.uni-heidelberg.de Sabine did a combined Undergraduate and Master’s degree in Molecular Medicine at the Friederich-Alexander-University in Erlangen, Germany. She initially came to the Goberdhan lab towards the end of 2008 as an Erasmus Visiting student, funded by the Max-Weber-Programm (part of the Bavarian Elite Network). She investigated the regulation of growth by PAT transporters in human cell lines. Sabine returned to the Goberdhan lab at the end of 2009 for her six-month Diploma Project with funding from “Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes” and Brasenose funds from Richard Boyd. She finished off work for a manuscript on PAT-mTORC1 cell growth control2 and contributed to another3. Back in Germany, Sabine completed her MD and started her PhD at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. Her research focuses on Gynaecology, specialising in Gynaecologic Oncology. Since leaving the Goberdhan lab Sabine has published over thirty-five papers including a number of first author papers. Sabine is currently completing her specialisation in Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the University of Heidelberg. She has active research collaborations with the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) in Heidelberg and the University of Munich. Her current research focus is Translational Oncology. Selected publications since leaving Goberdhan group: |
|
|
|
SNIGDHA KALA
|
MSc project 2008 -2009 E-mail: snigdhakala@gmail.com Snigdha did her BSc in Microbiology at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai alongside a research apprenticeship at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. She completed her Masters in Integrative Biology at the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford. As part of her Masters she completed a three month project in the Goberdhan lab and worked on making specific PAT mutants to map gene function2. She then did projects with Niethammer, Hadjantonakis and Joyner labs (Enyedi et al., 2013) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre as a PhD student enrolled at the Weill Cornell Medical College, New York. She returned to India and completed her MBA at the Indian School of Business and now works in the solar power development sector. Key publication after leaving Goberdhan group: Enyedi B, Kala S, Nikolich-Zugich T, Niethammer P (2013) Tissue damage detection by osmotic surveillance. Nat Cell Biol. 15, 1123-30. |
|
|
|
ASLI ENVER OZATINC
|
MSc project 2011-2012 Asli did her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the King’s College London. She then did an MSc in Human Molecular Genetics at Imperial College, London. She joined the Goberdhan lab to undertake her six month research project. Her Master’s project focussed on analysing the effect of the PAT4 amino acid transporter on mTORC1-mediated signalling. Asli is now working as a science teacher at Acland Burghley School in London. |
|
|
|
ARSALAN AZAD
|
MSc project and Research Assistant 2012-2013 Green Templeton College E-mail: azad.oxon@gmail.com Azad did his undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Nottingham. He then undertook an MSc in Radiation Oncology Biology at the University of Oxford. As part of this he worked on a six month Master’s research project, involving a collaboration with Prof Adrian Harris’s lab at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. Azad’s Master’s project focussed on assessing the role of the PAT4 amino acid transporter in regulating cancer growth in colorectal cancer cells. He subsequently worked as a Research Assistant for nine months to complete experiments5. Azad then did a PhD focussing on the role of the Acetyl-CoA synthetase, ACSS2, in the regulation of autophagy in Michael Wakeham’s lab at the Babraham Institute, University of Cambridge. Followed by post-doctoral work at the CIMR in Cambridge, looking at the role of ER-based stress linked survival mechanisms human mesothelioma in Professor Marciniaks Lab. Outside of academia, Azad enjoys travelling and cricket and baking lemon drizzle cakes. |
|
|
|
ANNIE HAEJUNG JO
|
MSc project 2011-2012 Hertford College E-mail: annie.h.jo@gmail.com Annie completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She then came to England to work towards her MSc in Radiation Biology, in the Department of Oncology, at the University of Oxford. She was associated with the Goberdhan lab during her six month Master’s research project, which involved a collaboration with Prof Adrian Harris (WIMM, Oxford). Annie’s Master’s project focussed on characterising the role of the PAT4 amino acid transporter in breast and colorectal cancers. She then returned to New Zealand to take up a position as a Pathology registrar at Christchurch Hospital. This also led to a role as an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Otago. Annie is now a senior Anatomical Pathology trainee with an interest in Molecular Pathology. Day to day, she is involved in histopathology diagnostics and teaching pathology to undergraduate medical students. |
|
|
|
DAN STEVENS
|
Academic Clinical Fellow and DPhil student (2013-2016) Linacre College E-mail: stevensd1987@gmail.com Dan graduated from Cardiff University medical school in 2011 with a first class BSc in Public Health and MB BCh with honours. During his time as a medical student he developed a strong interest in both Urology (the surgical treatment of conditions of the urinary tract) and academic research. He was subsequently awarded an Academic Foundation Programme in Bristol working with Professor Jane Blazeby where I spent two excellent years working as a Doctor in the NHS and working on clinical research projects relating to surgery. He has published and presented on a variety of topics within Urology, but increasingly was drawn to the complexities and uncertainties of prostate cancer. In 2013 he was appointed as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Urology at the University of Oxford. This enabled him to spend up to two days a week pursuing a research interest alongside surgical training and he joined the Goberdhan lab in 2013. He was awarded a Cancer Research UK Clinical Training Fellowship to study for a DPhil in the Goberdhan group, where he helped to develop the prostate cancer programme. In the lab, Dan focusing on how prostate cancer cells adapt to micro-environmental stress, the role of exosomes in this process, and the possible role of exosomes in cancer progression including metastasis. Dan is now a Medical Director at Blue Earth Diagnostics Ltd. |
|
|
|
ANUSHA SABANAYAGAM
|
Visiting student 2015 E-mail: anusha_s@live.ca Anusha joined the Goberdhan lab as a visiting student in the summer of 2015 in the interim period prior to her final year of undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo in Canada. She was involved in ongoing research investigating the role of mTORC1 in regulating exosome (nanovesicle) signaling between cells using the PC3 prostate cancer cell line. In the Goberdhan lab Anusha particularly valued the research training she received and the frequent interactions with clinician-scientists specializing in urology and prostate cancer. On returning to her home institution Anusha continued to pursue research and graduated with the Dean’s Award in Biomedical Sciences. Anusha’s experience in the Goberdhan lab was instrumental in her choice of career direction. She is currently studying Medicine at Saba University School of Medicine with the goal of establishing a career in medical research combined with clinical implementation |
|
|
|
SUMETH M PERERA
|
DPhil student 2012-2016 Campion Hall Oxford Sumeth did an MRes in Biochemistry at Imperial College, London. He joined the Goberdhan lab in 2012 to undertake his DPhil studies, funded by Jesuits-in-Britain. He initiated work on the study of cell communication between cells involving exosomes (nanovesicles). Sumeth is now undertaking postdoctoral work in cancer biology at the National Cancer Institute of Health in Frederick, Maryland, USA. |
|
|
|
CLEIDSON P ALVES
|
Postdoctoral Research Scientist 2015-2017 Cleidson did his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. He then did Postdoctoral work on tumour heterogeneity and dormancy in the Ramaswamy lab at MGH/Harvard Medical School, USA. Cleidson joined the Goberdhan lab as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist, funded by Cancer Research UK. He focused on analysing the functional effect of stress-induced exosomes on recipient cell behaviour and cancer progression. He is now a Research Scientist working with Prof Roman Thomas in the Department of Translational Genomics at the University of Cologne in Germany. |
|
|
|
IRINA M STEFANA
|
Postdoctoral Research Scientist 2015-2017 Irina did her PhD and short Post doc in the Gould lab at UCL and then The Francis Crick Institute on the effects of nutrition on metabolism and ageing using the fruit fly as a model system. She joined the Goberdhan lab as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist, funded by Cancer Research UK. Irina was involved in work focused on distinguishing exosome sub-types using an in vivo fly model of exosome biogenesis, developed in collaboration with the Wilson lab (include web link). She now works in the Diabetes and Inflammation lab with Prof John Todd in the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford. Pubmed link |
|
|
|
Hakimi Kassim
|
DPhil Student, 2015 - 2019 Wolfson College Hakimi Kassim joined the Goberdhan Lab in 2015 as a DPhil student, funded by The Khazanah-Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Merdeka Scholarship. He investigated the functional properties and content of stressed-induced extracellular vesicles in breast cancers. He is currently a senior lecturer in biology at Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia. |
|
|
|
Poohrawind Sanitt
|
Visiting student 2018-2019 E-mail: poohrawind.sanitt@gmail.com Inspired by his love of nature Poohrawind obtained his Bachelor degree in Forest Biological Sciences from Kasetsart University, Thailand in 2004. This then led to a Master’s degree in Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering at Mahidol University1. After which he joined a lab working on shrimp molecular biology2.3. Poohrawind was awarded a Scholarship from the Office of the Higher Education Commission, Thailand to undertake a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering at the Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University4. Poohrawind’s Ph.D. Scholarship enabled him to undertake one year of research abroad. He decided to apply to the Goberdhan Lab, because of his interest in the extracellular vesicles and their potential role in the transfer of gene regulatory dsRNAs between cells. In the Goberdhan Lab, Poohrawind was involved in investigating the links between the glutamine-sensing amino acid transporter PAT4, the cellular microenvironmental sensor mTORC1 and extracellular vesicle signaling in prostate cancer development5. He will be teaching at Princess of Naradhiwas University, Thailand after he obtains his degree. Publications 1Sanitt P, Promdonkoy B, Boonserm P (2008) Targeted mutagenesis at charged residues in Bacillus Sphaericus BinA toxin affects mosquito-larvicidal activity. Current Microbiol 57, 230-234. 2Sanitt P, Attasart P, Panyim S (2014) Protection of yellow head virus infection by feeding of bacteria expressing dsRNAs. J Biotechnol 179, 26-31. 3Sanitt P, Apirutakul N, Niyomtham N, Yingyongnarongkul B, Assavalapsakul W, Panyim S, Udomkit A (2016) Cholesterol-based cationic liposome increases dsRNA protection of yellow head virus infection in Penaeus vannamei. J Biotechnol 228, 95-102. 4Sanitt P, Panyim S, Udomkit A (2020) An ATP synthase beta subunit is required for internalization of dsRNA into shrimp cells. Fish Shellfish Immunol 106, 948-958. 5McCormick K, Sanitt P, Fan S-J, Mason JD, Harris AL, Hamdy FC, Verrill C, Bryant RJ, Goberdhan DCI. Anti-androgens induce Rab11a-exosome secretion in prostate cancer by suppressing amino acid-sensitive PAT4-mTORC1 signalling. BioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.18.300137. |
Research Publications while working in Goberdhan Group
Goberhan lab previous team members are highlighted in bold underlined text
Primary articles
1 Reynolds B, Roversi P, Laynes R, Kazi S, Boyd CA, Goberdhan DC (2009) Drosophila expresses a CD98 transporter with an evolutionarily conserved structure and amino acid-transport properties. Biochem J 420, 363-372.
2 Heublein S*, Kazi S*, Ogmundsdóttir MH, Attwood EV, Kala S, Boyd CA, Wilson C, Goberdhan DC (2010) Proton-assisted amino-acid transporters are conserved regulators of proliferation and amino-acid-dependent mTORC1 activation. Oncogene 29, 4068-4079.
3 Ögmundsdóttir MH, Heublein S, Kazi S, Reynolds B, Visvalingam SM, Shaw MK, Goberdhan DC (2012)Proton-assisted amino acid transporter PAT1 complexes with Rag GTPases and activates TORC1 on late endosomal and lysosomal membranes. PLoS One 7, e36616.
4 Corrigan L, Redhai S, Leiblich A, Fan SJ, Perera SM, Patel R, Gandy C, Wainwright SM, Morris JF, Hamdy FC, Goberdhan DC*, Wilson C* (2014) BMP-regulated exosomes from Drosophila male reproductive glands reprogram female behavior. J Cell Biol 206, 671-688.
5 Fan SJ*, Snell C*, Turley H, Li JL, McCormick R, Perera SM, Heublein S, Kazi S, Azad A, Wilson C, Harris AL, Goberdhan DC (2016) PAT4 levels control amino-acid sensitivity of rapamycin-resistant mTORC1 from the Golgi and affect clinical outcome in colorectal cancer. Oncogene 35, 3004-3015.
*these authors contributed equally to this publication
Review articles
R1 Wilson C, Vereshchagina N, Reynolds B, Meredith D, Boyd CA, Goberdhan DC (2007) Extracellular and subcellular regulation of the PI3K/Akt cassette: new mechanisms for controlling insulin and growth factor signalling. Biochem Soc Trans 35, 219-221.
R2 Reynolds B, Laynes R, Ogmundsdóttir MH, Boyd CA, Goberdhan DC (2007)Amino acid transporters and nutrient-sensing mechanisms: new targets for treating insulin-linked disorders? Biochem Soc Trans 35, 1215-1217.
R3 Goberdhan DC, Ogmundsdóttir MH, Kazi S, Reynolds B, Visvalingam SM, Wilson C, Boyd CA (2009) Amino acid sensing and mTOR regulation: inside or out? Biochem Soc Trans 37, 248-252.