Cell Biology & Genetics Seminar Series

The aim of our seminar series is to broaden knowledge and stimulate new collaborations and interactions through the sharing of ieas and cutting-edge research. Our speakers are drawn from established International leaders in their fields and younger investigators starting out on their careers.

Upcoming seminars

There are no upcoming seminars currently scheduled.

Past seminars

2025 seminars

3 March: 'Tooting Monday Biomedical Seminar' featuring Professor Nigel Emptage, Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford
31 March: 'Glia responses to amyloid pathology: let's talk about sex', featuring Dr Lorena Arancibia Carcamo, UK Dementia Reserch Institute at UCL
12 May: 'Genetics of Dystonia' by Francesca Morgante
19 May: 'Zebrafish model as a tool to assess variants and gene effect' by Flavie Ader
2 June: 'Genetics of Primary Lymphoedema: Identifying Non-Coding Variation and Functional Investigations Using New Cell Culture Models' by Ruby Moy and Jak Lawrence
9 June: 'Promotional Seminar - Revvity Operetta'. Hosts: Daniel Osborn & Emily Woodcock

2024 seminars

22 January: 'Defining Satellite Cell-opathies: Neuromuscular Disorders Caused by Muscle Stem Cell Dysfunction.' Featuring: Prof. Peter Zammit (Kings College London). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
5 February: 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in Fluorescence Microscopy.' Featuring: Dr Sian Culley (Kings College London). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
19 February: 'Intestinal biology of naked mole rats and clues to longevity.' Featuring: Dr Shazia Irshad (Radcliff Dept of Medicine, Oxford Uni). Host: Dr Chris Carroll
4 March: 'Glia-neuronal interactions in health and disease.' Featuring: Prof Giles Hardingham (Edinburgh University). Host: Prof. Tom Carter.
11 March: 'Genetic analysis of Cardiomyopathies.' Featuring: Dr Flavie Ader (Hôpitaux Universitaires Pitié Salpêtrière Paris, France). Host: Dr Daniel Osborne
15 April: 'Using deep learning models to solve important problems in genetics.' Featuring: Dr Clare Bycroft (Deep mind). Host: Dr Laura Southgate
13 May: 'The role of mitochondrial transcriptional processes in modulating human health and disease.' Featuring: Prof. Alan Hodgkinson (Kings College London). Host: Dr Chris Carroll
10 June: 'MHRA proposed new regulatory framework in the UK following Brexit.' Featuring: Dr Ian Rees (Regulatory Consultant for the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency). Host: Dr Brigette Bax
30 September: 'Mitochondria at neuronal presynapses in health and disease.' Featuring: Dr Mike Devine (Francis Crick Institute). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
28 October: 'Multi-faceted roles of retrotransposons in cancer genomes.' Featuring: Dr Ozgen Deniz (QMUL)
18 November: 'The Ena/VASP actin polymerases promote canonical WNT signalling and increase LRP5/6 WNT-coreceptor endocytosis.' Featuring: Dr Matthias Krause (KCL)
16 December: 'Calmodulin in Cardiac Arrythmia Syndromes.' Featuring: Dr Nordine Helassan (Liverpool University)

2023 seminars

23 January: 'The ins and outs of cellular quiescence.' Featuring: Dr Alexis Barr (Imperial College London). Host: Prof. Tom Carter.
6 February: 'Exercise, Sleep and Nutrition: mechanistic dissection of how lifestyle controls muscle growth.' Featuring: Prof. Simon Hughes (Kings College London). Host: Dan Osborne and Prof. Tom Carter
6 March: 'The impact of brain endothelial cell senescence on adult neurogenesis.' Featuring: Professor Isabel Fariñas (University of Valencia). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
20 March: 'Searching for patterns in chaos: How vascular patterning regulates tissue fibrosis.' Featuring: Dr Neil Dufton (Queen Mary, University of London). Host: Prof. Tom Carter

2022 seminars

7 February: 'Targeting anti-apoptotic pathways in senescent cells, implications for ageing and disease.' Dr Jaskaren Kohli (KCL)
21 February: 'Germline epistasis in short telomere syndrome dyskeratosis congenita.' Dr Hemanth Tummala (QMUL)
7 March: 'Heart disease: What goes wrong inside the cells?' Professor Elisabeth Ehler (KLC)
21 March: 'Single molecule force spectroscopy for studying DNA-protein interactions and DNA repair.' Dr Nike Bell (Francis Crick Institute)
4 April: 'Fish and whips: using zebrafish to investigate how cellular waste disposal affects cilia.' Dr Christoper Wilkinson (Royal Holloway, University of London)
11 July: 'Regulation of lymphatic endothelial cell gene expression and lymphangiogenesis by the transcription factor ERG.' Dr Graeme Birdsey (ICL)
28 November: '100,000 Genomes Study on Rare-Disease Diagnosis in Healthcare.' Professor Shamima Rahman (GOSH and Institute of Child Health, UCL)
12 December: 'Platelet priming in haemostatsis and immunothrombosis.' Dr Isabelle Salles-Crawley (St George's, University of London)

2021 seminars

11 January: 'The happy tale of an orphan connexin.' Prof. Jon Gibbins (Reading University). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
25 January: 'Organelle remodelling during cell division and viral assembly.' Dr Jeremy Carlton (Francis Crick Institute, London). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
8 February: 'Modulating transcription to delay ageing in the fruit fly.' Dr Nazif Alic (UCL). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
22 February: 'Molecules, Modules and Models of Pregnancy.' Prof. Michael Taggart (Newcastle University). Hosts: Prof. Tom Carter/Guy Whitley
8 March: 'The EMMAC project: impact of missense mutations in genetic disease.' Dr Dagan Jenkins (UCL). Hosts: Prof. Tom Carter/Soo-Hyun Kim
22 March: 'Synaptic glutamate release and uptake in Huntington's disease.' Prof. Dr (med) Rosemarie Grantyn (Charité – Universitätsmedizin, Berlin). Hosts: Prof. Tom Carter/Prof. Kati Torok
19 April: 'Mechanosensing in placental vascular function.' Dr LC Morley (Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
17 May: 'Molecular Scale Imaging of Cardiac Ca2+ handling and EC coupling.' Prof. Christian Soeller (Exeter University). Hosts: Prof. Tom Carter/ Mary Sheppard
28 June: 'The evolution of organ development.' Dr Margarida Cardoso Moreira (Francis Crick Institute). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
12 July: 'Targeting the cardiac lymphatics to optimize heart repair.' Paul Riley (Oxford University). Hosts: Prof. Tom Carter / Pia Ostergaard
27 September: 'Structures of Influenza Haemagglutinin Fusion Intermediates.' Dr Donald Benton (Francis Crick Institute). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
11 October: 'Pro-survival role of ISR signalling in mitochondrial cardiomyopathy acts via OMA1 protease.' Dr Sofia Ahola (Max-Planck-Institute for Biology of Ageing). Host: Chris Carroll
25 October: 'To degrade or not to degrade - Protein quality control of tail-anchored membrane proteins by co-chaperone SGTA.' Dr Janina Muench (Kings College London). Host: Prof. Katalin Torok
8 November: 'Nanopipette biosensors for single-cell analysis.' Professor Yuri Korchev (ICL Division of Medicine). Host: Elena Sviderskaya
22 November: 'Tales from the Dark Side: Insights into rare genetic disease from melanosome biogenesis.' Prof. Michael Marks (Penn Uni USA). Host: Elena Sviderskaya
6 December: 'Cytonemes regulate Wnt transport in development and disease.' Dr Steffen Scholpp (University of Exeter). Host: Prof. Tom Carter

2020 seminars

6 January: 'Snail coiling: CRISPR editing of a single gene turns righties into lefties.' Professor Dr Reiko Kuroda (Chubu University, Japan). Host: Prof. Mark Fisher
27 January: 'Novel sources of endothelial cells for blood vessels and lymphatics.' Dr Christiana Ruhrberg (UCL). Host: Pia Ostergaard
10 February: 'The role of biomechanical stress signalling in inherited cardiac diseases.' Dr Katja Gehmlich (University of Birmingham). Host: Yalda Jamishidi
24 February: 'Junctional control of endothelial cell migration.' Dr Tom Nightingale (William Harvey Institute, Guys Uni). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
9 March: 'Rab46 integrates GTPase and Ca2+ signals for stimuli-dependent Weibel-Palade body trafficking.' Dr Lynn McKeown (University of Leeds). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
23 March: 'Exploiting the mechanisms of DNA topoisomerases to develop antibacterial agents Postponed.' Prof. Tony Maxwell (John Innes Center). Host: Prof. Tom Carter/Mark Fisher
20 April: 'A decade of demented mice: from brainwaves to blood flow.' Prof. Andrew Randall (Exeter University) Postponed. Host: Atticus Hainsworth
15 June: Dr Robin Walters (Oxford Uni). Host: Andrew Walley
29 June: 'Piecing together the human cilium – genetics of rare motile ciliopathies.' Prof. Hannah Mitchison (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health). Host: Prof. Tom Carter

2019 seminars

28 January: 'Von Willebrand factor release from Weibel-Palade bodies: How to unpack a vascular emergency kit.' Dr Ruben Bierings (Erasmus Medical centre, Rotterdam). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
11 February: 'Ciliogenesis and cell polarity using zebrafish models.' Dr Jarema Malicki (cancelled due to tragic death of speaker) (Sheffield University). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
25 February: 'Dissecting the secretory pathway using functional genomics.' Dr Andrew Peden (Sheffield Uni). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
11 March: 'Genetics and Genomics of the China Kadoorie Biobank.' Dr Robin Walters (Oxford University) Host: Andrew Walley
25 March: 'Molecular control of endosomal protein sorting/trafficking.' Prof. Pete Cullen (Bristol University). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
10 June: 'Short telomeres and age-related disease: innocent bystanders or guilty culprits?' Dr Jess Buxton (Kingston University). Host: Andrew Walley
24 June: 'Phosphoinositide lipids and congenital disorders of membrane trafficking.' Dr Laura Swan (Sheffield University). Host: Yalda Jamshidi
8 July: 'Genetic architecture of rare developmental disorders.' Dr Hilary Martin (Sanger Institute). Host: Yalda Jamshidi
22 July: 'Musculoskeletal tissue engineering: Biomechanics and bioreactors.' Dr James Henstock (Liverpool University). Host: Caroline Copeland
16 September: 'The role of the dynein-2 microtubule motor in cilia assembly and function.' Prof. David Stephens (Bristol Uni). Host: Soo-Kim
30 September: 'Of mice and man: disease mechanisms of Col4a1 cerebrovascular, eye and kidney disease.' Dr Tom Van Agtmael (Glasgow University). Host: Atticus Hainsworth
14 October: 'Tethered exosomes and their roles in health and disease.' Dr James Edgar (Cambridge University). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
11 November: 'Novel sources of endothelial cells for blood vessels and lymphatics.' Dr Christiana Ruhrberg (UCL). Host: Pia Ostergaard
25 November: 'Targeting the microvasculature as a therapy for polycystic kidney disease.' Prof. David Long (UCL). Host: Pia Ostergaard
9 December: 'The dialogue between mitochondria and calcium signalling in cell life and death.' Prof. Michael Duchen (UCL) Host: Prof. Tom Carter

2018 seminars

15 January: 'Fios Genomics - Discovering the Biology in your Data.' Dr Emma Behjat (Fios Genomics, Edinburgh). Host: Ingrid Dumitriu
29 January: 'Policing secretion: quality control of protein biogenesis in the endoplasmic reticulum.' Prof. Liz Miller (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
12 February: 'What is ageing? Lessons from C. elegans.' Prof. David Gems. (University College London). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
26 February: 'Insulin signalling at the intersection of metabolism and ageing.' Prof. Lazaros Foukas (University College London). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
12 March: 'The Breathless Genes: lung function genetics and risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).' Dr Louise Wain (University of Leicester). Host: Yalda Jamshidi
26 March: 'Targeting protein aggregation in neurodegenerative conditions using rationally designed antibodies.' Dr Francesco Aprile (University of Cambridge). Host: Atticus hainsworth
16 April: 'Gonadotropin-releasing hormone signalling: dynamics, noise and information.' Prof. Craig McArdle (University of Bristol). Host: Kim Jonas
30 April: 'Coated vesicles and what happens next.' Prof. Scottie Robinson (Cambridge University). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
14 May: 'Modelling human brain development and evolution in cerebral organoids.' Dr Madeline Lancaster (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
11 June: 'The nuclear lamina and vascular ageing.' Prof. Catherine Shanahan (King's College London). Host: Laura Southgate
25 June: 'Metabolite-mediated regulation of inflammation.' Dr Claudio Mauro (University of Birmingham). Host: Soo-Kim
16 July: 'Development of therapies for mitochondrial DNA replication defects.' Dr Caterina Garone (Welcome trust/MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Cambridge). Host: Bridget Bax
17 September: 'Seeing and believing at super-resolution.' Dr Susan Cox (Randall Centre of Cell & Molecular Biophysics, KCL). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
24 September: 'Regulation of Retinoic Acid Availability in Cardiac Development and Disease.' Dr Catherine Roberts (Imperial College Hospital). Host: Paris Ataliotis
8 October: 'Mechanisms of connexin-related lymphatic dysfunction and lymphedema.' LTC Prof. Michael J Davis (Medical Pharmacology & Physiology, University of Missouri). Host: Pia Ostergaard
22 October: 'Using super-resolution imaging to understand protein organisation in diverse structures: from primary cilia to muscle Z-discs.' LTC Prof Michelle Peckham (Leeds University). Host: Prof. Tom Carter
19 November: 'Exploring positive and negative regulation of cancer cell migration and invasion.' LTB Dr Matthias Kraus (Randell Institute, Kings College London). Host: Ferran Valderrama
3 December: 'On the Origins of blood vessels and lymphatics.' Dr Oliver Stone (Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG), Oxford). Host: Pia Ostergaard