Costa-Pereira, Ana

Contact

Group lead
Dr Ana P Costa-Pereira

+44 (0)20 7594 2815
a.costa-pereira@imperial.ac.uk

Related theme

Disease areas

What we do

My group is fascinated by how cancer cells communicate (or not as the case often is) with each other. We are particularly interested in conversations involving cytokines such as IL-6, interferons, TRAIL and Fas.

Why it is important

We would like to understand the way cells are wired and how they can be rewired to reset harmful conversations and help cancer patients feel (and live) better.

How it can benefit patients

The mapping of protein-protein interaction and how cancer-relevant genes are regulated at the transcription level often offer obvious points of clinical intervention with drugs or small molecules.

Summary of current research

  • Regulation of IL-6 signalling by STAT3 and STAT1
  • The role of AKT & ERK isoforms on IL-6-mediated signal transduction
  • Novel signalling pathways activated by type I and type II Interferons
  • Modulation of Death Receptors and apoptosis by DAPK kinases and NF-kB transcription factors

Connections

Funders

Related Centres

Collaborators

  • Dr Heike Hermanns: Rudolf Virchow Center for Experimental Biomedicine, University of Würzburg,Würzburg, Germany
  • Prof. David E. Levy: Department of Pathology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, USA
  • Dr Ana Gamero:Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, USA
  • Prof. Tony Green: Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

For PhD students

When we have funding for PhD studentships, we advertise them through central channels such as Find a PhD. Information is also available on the Surgery and Cancer study page. If no studentships are currently advertised, please get in touch with the group lead with proposed project titles to discuss further.

For patients


Our researchers