Katrin Ottersbach

Professor of Developmental Haematology / Cancer Research UK Fellow

Biography

Background

2015 - Current: MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK - Principal Investigator

2012 - 2015: Wellcome Trust – MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, UK - Principal Investigator

2006 - 2015: Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Cambridge, UK - Principal Investigator

2001 - 2006: Group of Prof. Elaine Dzierzak, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Postdoctoral Fellow

Qualifications

1997 - 2001: CRC Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow, UK - PhD: MIP-1a: A Structure-Function Study, supervisor Prof. Gerard Graham

1993 - 1997: University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK - BSc with Honours in Biochemistry: First Class

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

Eric Antunes

Alasdair Duguid

Leslie Nitsche

Past PhD students supervised

Vasiliki Symeonidou

Nada Zaidan

Chrysa Kapeni

Wendi Bacon

Neil Barrett

Maria Mascarenhas

Bahar Mirshekar-Syahkal

Research summary

Developmental origins of blood stem cells and leukaemia

Blood stem cells have the ability to produce every blood cell type and are therefore of immense clinical importance. Our group investigates how these cells are first generated during foetal development, how they can be maintained and what their unique properties are. A further interest of our group is how these early blood cells are targeted by mutations that can lead to cancer development in infant patients.

Aims and areas of interest

One major part of my group's research is to understand how the first haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are generated during development and how their subsequent expansion, migration and differentiation are regulated. A particular focus in this context is the identification of the cellular and molecular composition of the microenvironment that facilitates the emergence of HSCs and how this composition changes as HSCs mature and migrate in the developing foetus. The ultimate aim is to dissect out the specific components required for particular HSC functions so that the right conditions can be recreated to achieve HSC generation, expansion and differentiation in vitro. We have recently demonstrated that the transcription factor Gata3 via its role in the sympathetic nervous system is required for HSC production, thus functionally linking these two co-developing systems. We are continuing our studies on how exactly catecholamines, the mediators of the sympathetic nervous system, act on emerging HSCs. We also have evidence that Gata3 performs additional functions during HSC emergence which we are currently investigating.

Embryonic and foetal haematopoietic cells have unique properties with respect to proliferation response and differentiation bias. These are important in the context of HSC expansion and certain types of infant leukaemia that have a prenatal origin, and are another area of interest in the lab. We are particularly interested in infant leukaemias that have chromosomal rearrangements at the MLL locus as these have a particularly poor prognosis. Using MLL-AF4 and MLL-AF9 as examples, our aim is to characterise the foetal-specific context that contributes to disease development and how these oncofusions compromise normal blood development. The overall aim is to identify more specific therapeutic targets and to develop faithful in vivo models in which these can be tested.

Affiliated research centres

Current project grants

Cancer Research UK Programme Foundation Award
Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund project grant
Blood Cancer UK project grant

Past project grants

LLR Bennett Senior Fellowship
Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund Intermediate Fellowship
British Society of Haematology Early Stage Investigator Fellowship
University of Edinburgh Chancellor's Fellowship

Organiser

Annual Molecular Haemopoiesis meeting

  • Prof. Juerg Schwaller, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland
  • Prof. Bertie Göttgens, University of Cambridge, UK
  • Dr. Chris Halsey, University of Glasgow, UK
  • Dr. Kristina Kirschner, University of Glasgow, UK
  • Prof. Rose Zamoyska, University of Edinburgh, UK
  • Dr Karen Keeshan, University of Glasgow, UK
  • Prof. Pablo Menendez, University of Barcelona, Spain
  • Prof. Thomas Milne, University of Oxford, UK
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