Pawel Swietach
DPhil BA FPhysiol
Professor of Physiology
Molecular Physiology: signalling by small ions
I am fascinated by how a collection of various chemical components in a cell can produce biological life under the constraints of physical laws. This is why I am a physiologist.
Research in my lab is driven by an interest in how biological processes are affected by chemical acidity. All tissues are exquisitely sensitive to changes in acidity (often expressed on a pH scale), therefore the remit of our research is broad. However, our two main pillars relate to the heart and to cancer. Acidity has a powerful effect on cardiac biology and is particularly important in cardiac diseases. In tumours, acidity is a chemical signature that influences disease progression. By discovering the mechanisms of these pH-responses, we hope to deliver new insights that may lead to better diagnosis, management and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Most of our work is supported by the European Research Council (ERC) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
I joined the Department in 2001 as a PhD student working on spatial pH control in the heart in Richard Vaughan-Jones’ lab. Between 2004 and 2008, my research work, split between DPAG and Ken Spitzer’s lab at the University of Utah, focused on how changes in pH influence calcium signalling, a key driver of cardiac physiology. In 2008, I was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF) to study spatio-temporal aspects of pH control in cancer, and how acidic pH affects cancer cell behaviour and disease progression. I received mentorship from Adrian Harris. In 2017, I was awarded an ERC Consolidator Award to expand my research in the area of acid-selection in colorectal cancer. In that year, I also began leading a BHF Programme on the role of acidity in hypertrophic cardiac growth, which often precedes heart failure.
In the 2020 Recognition of Distinction Exercise, I was conferred the title of Professor of Physiology.
Key publications
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Journal article
Richardson SL. et al, (2020), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 117, 10067 - 10078
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Hulikova A. et al, (2016), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 113, E5344 - E5353
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Schroeder MA. et al, (2013), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 110, E958 - E967
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Swietach P. et al, (2013), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 110, E2064 - E2073
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Swietach P. et al, (2010), Oncogene, 29, 6509 - 6521
Recent publications
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Swietach P. et al, (2024), Cell Metab, 36, 461 - 462
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Phenotypic screen of sixty-eight colorectal cancer cell lines identifies CEACAM6 and CEACAM5 as markers of acid-resistance
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MICHL J. et al, (2024), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
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Blaszczak W. et al, (2023), Cell Rep, 43
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White B. and Swietach P., (2023), Pflugers Arch
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Impaired O2 unloading from stored blood results in diffusion-limited O2 release at tissues: evidence from human kidneys
Journal article
Dumbill R. et al, (2023), Blood