I joined the school of Life and Health Sciences at Aston university as a lecturer in Cell Biology in November 2009 following on from a similar post at Liverpool John Moores University for 2 years (from 2007). It is in the USA that I started being fascinated by the world of Cell Biology when I undertook my postdoctoral studies at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). It is within these 7 years (2000-2007) that I realised the biological significance of the cellular organisation and their roles in both physiological and diseases states. Prior to this, I received my PhD from the Nottingham Trent University where I graduated in 2000 following on from 3 years of work in the field of Biochemistry. My degrees both from the Nottingham Trent University (applied Biology in 1996) and from Paris XII Creteil (applied biology 1994) were really the steps that took me into the world of science and biology and were the foundations of my career.

The research in our laboratory aims to characterise the role, at the cellular level, of different actin binding/bundling proteins on the organisation of the actin cytoskeleton and the potential roles these proteins may have in disease progressions, such as cancer and complicated pregnancies.

Our recent work focuses on proteins that have been linked to cancer progression and have been shown to enhance cellular migration, leading to a metastatic phenotype when it is over expressed in certain tumour cells.We have also now focused on deciphering the more physiological functions of these proteins in the context of healthy living and try to understand more about their roles in normal lives.

Our work and that of others has shown that both S100P and S100A4 affect the actin cytoskeleton though interaction with the non muscle myosin network. Using cell culture and state of the art facilities in cellular biology and molecular biology, we aim to understand the molecular mechanisms that allow these S100 proteins to remodel the actin cytoskeleton and the consequences of such reorganisation on cell migration. and mammalian systems as well as in vitro using the state of the art facilities in cellular biology and molecular biology offered in our department.

• 2000-2005 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (USA) 
• 2005-2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (USA) 
• 2007-2009 Lecturer in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Liverpool John Moores University (UK) 
• 2009 –     Lecturer in Cellular Biology, Aston University  

• 1994-1996 Diplome Universitaire de Technologie in Applied Biology, IUT Creteil Paris XII (France) 
• 1994-1996 BSc. (Hon) Biological Sciences, Nottingham Trent University  
• 1997-2000 PhD in Biochemistry, Nottingham Trent University  
• 2007-2008 Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, Liverpool John Moores University 

Room: MB343A
Tel: +44 (0) 121 204 3467
email: [email protected]
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