Claire Seedhouse
Dr Claire Seedhouse is an Associate Professor in haemato-oncology and group leader, whose research focuses on mechanisms of drug action and resistance in blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
Claire studied for her PhD at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Manchester where she developed an interest in DNA damage and repair. This interest was furthered during her post-doctoral positions and a fellowship at the University of Nottingham and extended into mechanisms of drug resistance when she was appointed as the Skillington Haematology Lecturer.
Outside of work Claire can often be found watching cricket, from grassroot games to international tours. Her favourite tipple is champagne. She is also a lifelong Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter!
Alice Worker
Alice Worker is a 2nd year PhD Medicine student in the Seedhouse lab researching chromosome 1q abnormalities and Cks1b in multiple myeloma. She is investigating the role that Cks1b, a small cell cycle protein overexpressed in 40-50% of multiple myeloma cases, plays in disease progression and aggression. She is also studying Cks1b as a potential driver of drug resistance. She hopes her work will advocate for why 1q abnormalities should be recognised as prognostic markers in the clinic, so patients can receive better, more suitable treatment. In the future, this will involve testing old, new and repurposed drugs to see how 1q-amplified cells respond. Her work involves cell culture, bone marrow and blood sample processing, patient cell culture, qPCR, Western blotting and flow cytometry.
Alice previously studied a BSc in Biomedical Science and a Masters in Research in Cancer Sciences at the University of Birmingham. Her thesis project involved investigating abnormal expression of signalling genes in acute myeloid leukaemia with Dr Sophie Kellaway and Professor Constanze Bonifer as her supervisors.
When she’s not caring for her cells in the lab, Alice enjoys reading science fiction, fantasy, and crime novels. and drafting her own future novel, often with a gin and tonic in hand.
Sophie Kellaway
Dr Sophie Kellaway is an Assistant Professor in Cancer Sciences and group leader researching gene regulation and signalling in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. Dr Kellaway has specific expertise in methods to study gene regulation by next generation sequencing experiments and bioinformatic analysis (RNA-seq, scRNA-seq, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq).
Sophie gained her PhD at the University of Manchester supervised by Mark Dunne and Karen Cosgrove, studying stem cells as a model for congenital hyperinsulinism. Following this she worked as a post-doctoral research fellow with Constanze Bonifer and Peter Cockerill at the University of Birmingham which founded her interest in AML, gene regulation and epigenetics. She was awarded a Leukaemia UK John Goldman fellowship to set up her lab at Nottingham.
Outside of the lab Sophie is usually found running long distances in the mountains, drinking Scotch whisky and cuddling her Bengal cat Toby – not all at the same time!
Martin Grundy
Dr Martin Grundy is a Research Fellow currently investigating how the subcellular localisation of mutated NPM1 contributes to Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.
Martin gained his PhD at the University of Nottingham studying the activity of the aurora kinase B inhibitor Barasertib in AML. Dr Grundy’s research history is primarily focused on improving treatment options for patients with AML and has previously worked on the AML 14 and 15 clinical trials, multi-drug resistance and BH3 profiling.
Martin has expertise in flow cytometry, western blotting, cell culture techniques, confocal microscopy and live imaging.
Outside of the lab, he loves spending time with his wife and children, supporting Derby County football club, running, cooking and playing poker.
Alex Thompson
Dr Alex Thompson is an Associate Professor of Translational Stem Cell Technology and group leader with a focus on blood cancer and haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Alex has an established interest in the role of developmental genes, primarily HOX genes, and has published widely on their importance in normal and malignant blood cell formation.
Alex obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from Boston University Medical School, MA, developing transgenic in vivo models of blood cell formation under the mentorship of Prof. Katya Ravid. It was here that Alex’s interest in transcription factor regulation and function developed under the emerging discipline of Molecular Haematopoiesis. After taking up a position at Queen’s University Belfast, with Prof. Terry Lappin, Alex established his own research group focussed on the role of HOX in normal and malignant haematopoiesis. Following several publications and international presentations, this led to Alex spending three years as a visiting scientist in the laboratory of Dr Guy Sauvageau in Montréal, QC where his interest in HOX, Molecular Haematopoiesis and HSCs intensified. During this time, Alex was involved in identifying key genetic and epigenetic regulators of HSC function and developed conditional models of leukaemia. On returning to his native Belfast, Alex and his group identified several candidate FDA-approved drugs for repurposing in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), including Salinomycin and developed 3D models of the leukaemic bone marrow niche for additional drug studies.
Outside the lab, Alex may be found on a golf course, supporting his childhood team (Man Utd) or making cocktails for family and friends in his (lockdown instigated) converted garage.
Harry Jenkins
Dr Harry Jenkins is a Research Fellow who has been working on the evaluation of candidate drugs for potential repurposing for the treatment of childhood Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). Going forwards, his research is moving onto the development of patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models of childhood therapy-related leukaemias.
Harry attained his PhD at the University of Nottingham investigating mechanisms of immunomodulation by the pathogen H. pylori and how infection may confer protection from the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis, identifying a potential novel mechanism by which this may occur through enhancing central nervous system remyelination. Harry has a keen research interest in diseases of the immune system and the identification of improved treatment options for conditions which currently lack efficacious therapeutics.
Harry has expertise in flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, stem cell differentiation, in vivo disease models, RT-qPCR, and cell viability assays.
When not at work, Harry enjoys cooking, follows Nottingham Forest football club and enjoys a rum.