Summary
My laboratory focuses on 3 areas of research:
1) Molecular and cellular pathogenesis of mutliple myeloma and other mature B cell malignancies.
Our specific areas of interest include the delineation and characterisation of myeloma propagating cells, the role of transcription factor deregulation in the pathogenesis of mutliple myeloma and understanding of the mechanisms of osteoclast activation and bone disease in myeloma.
2) The biology of glycolipid specific T cells, their role in haematological disease and their therapeutical potential.
We are particularly interested a) in the role of invariant NKT cells in allogeneic stem cell transplantation and their therapeutic potential for CD1d-expressing B cell malignancies and b) in the role of gycosylphosphatidylinositol-specific T cells in the pathogenesis of paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria.
3) Understanding the transcriptional and epigenetic basis of housekeeping gene regulation and its therapeutic implications for autosomal recessive mendelian disease.
We adress these aims by using inherited GPI deficiency and disorders of the glycolytic pathway as disease models.
There is substantial conceptual and practical overlap between these 3 areas of research.
We employ a variety of molecular and cell biology tools, including genomics, advanced flow-cytometry and animal models.
We increasingly integrate and interprete our research through systems biology approaches through a close collaboration with Prof Michael Stumpf and his group, Theoretical Systems Biology, Imperial College.
As part of my clinical activities I participate and lead locally phase III clinical trials. In conjunction with the pharmaceutical industry we are working towards developing our capacity for early phase I/II clinical trials for lymphoma and myeloma.
Publications
Journals
Iskander D, Roy NBA, Payne E, et al., 2023, Diamond-Blackfan anemia in adults: In pursuit of a common approach for a rare disease, Blood Reviews, Vol:61, ISSN:0268-960X
Dawson MA, Borthakur G, Huntly BJP, et al., 2023, A Phase I/II Open-Label Study of Molibresib for the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory Hematologic Malignancies, Clinical Cancer Research, Vol:29, ISSN:1078-0432, Pages:711-722
Trasanidis N, Katsarou A, Ponnusamy K, et al., 2022, Systems medicine dissection of chr1q-amp reveals a novel PBX1-FOXM1 axis for targeted therapy in multiple myeloma, Blood, Vol:139, ISSN:0006-4971, Pages:1939-1953
Ponnusamy K, Tzioni MM, Begum M, et al., 2022, The innate sensor ZBP1-IRF3 axis regulates cell proliferation in multiple myeloma, Haematologica, Vol:107, ISSN:0390-6078, Pages:721-732
Roy A, Wang G, Iskander D, et al., 2021, Transitions in lineage specification and gene regulatory networks in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells over human development, Cell Reports, Vol:36, ISSN:2211-1247