Dr Alexander Greenhough

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Role:

Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Department staff:

Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences (HAS)

Collaborations:

Research staff:

Teaching staff:

Qualifications:BSc (Warwick University), PhD (Bristol University), FHEA
Position:Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences
Department:Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences (HAS)
Telephone:+4411732 86931
Email:Alexander.Greenhough@uwe.ac.uk
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About me

*I am always keen to hear from students interested in doing an MRes or a PhD in my lab. Please contact me via email for details of available opportunities*

I joined UWE Bristol in 2019 as a research-focused academic and I am now an Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences. My research focuses on cancer biology, and since joining UWE Bristol, I have won a Vice-Chancellor's Early Career Researcher Award and secured substantial external funding from Bowel Cancer UK, Sosei Heptares, BBSRC, and the Wellcome Trust.

I did my BSc at the University of Warwick, followed by a PhD with Prof Chris Paraskeva in the Cancer Research UK Colorectal Tumour Biology Group at the University of Bristol. I went on to hold senior CRUK- and BBSRC-funded positions at Bristol and I retain an Honorary Senior Lectureship and maintain active collaborations.

My lab is based in the Centre for Research in Biosciences (CRIB) and we use tissue culture models of colorectal and pancreatic cancer (including 3D organoids) combined with omics technologies and live-cell imaging to understand how factors such as hypoxia regulate cell signalling to drive cancer development. As well as shedding light on fundamental cell biology, a goal of this research is to discover 'druggable' targets that could be used to develop new strategies to prevent and treat cancer. Ultimately, we aim to translate this knowledge into the clinic to improve outcomes for cancer patients. Please see my Google Scholar profile for details of key publications related to this work.

Area of expertise

1. Fundamental cell biology in health and disease: Understanding hypoxia-induced signalling mechanisms during microenvironment-driven cellular adaptation

2. Translational cancer research: Improving chemoradiotherapy outcomes in colorectal cancer patients by understanding and targeting prostaglandin signalling

3. Drug discovery: Illuminating GPCR biology and exploring novel therapeutic targets

Selected Awards

• 2023-27 UKRI BBSRC PhD Studentship (£110,592): PI (joint lead with Prof Anne Ridley, University of Bristol)
• 2022-25 Sosei Heptares PhD Studentship (£111,353): PI
• 2021-24 Sosei Heptares PhD Studentship (£123,000): Co-I (joint with Dr Emma Vincent and Prof Ann Williams, University of Bristol)
• 2021-24 Health Education England (£113,591): Co-I (PI Aniko Varadi, UWE)
• 2019-23 Wellcome Trust Seed Award in Science (£99,236.50): PI
• 2019-23 Bowel Cancer UK Pilot Grant (£24,969): PI
• 2019 Vice Chancellor's ECR Award (£12,963): PI
• 2019 Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Translational & Knowledge Transfer Award (£24,923): Joint-lead PI (University of Bristol)
• 2011-17 Cancer Research UK Programme Award in Science (£1,200,000): Researcher Co-I (University of Bristol)

Grant panels/Peer review

Invited panel member and peer reviewer for national and international government funding agencies and charities. For example:
• Invited review board panel member for the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
• Invited review board panel member for the Irish Cancer Society.
• Invited reviewer for UKRI: MRC and BBSRC (grant applications worth £300K-£1M).
• Reviewer for journals including Oncogene (IF 7.9), Journal of Pathology (IF 6.3) and Autophagy (IF 9.8).

Invited talks

• King’s College London, Health Sciences Doctoral Training Centre (Mar 2022)
• University of Nottingham, Biodiscovery Institute (Nov 2020)
• Institute of Cancer Research, London (Aug 2020)
• Tumour Microenvironment Conference (Turkey) Namik Kemal University (Apr 2020)
• University of Bath, Department of Biology & Biochemistry (Feb 2020)
• UWE Bristol, CRIB Conference (Jan 2020)
• University of Bath, Genetics Society Conference (Jul 2019)

Selected Prizes

• 2017 Genetics Society Prize (Best Talk) at Genes, Development & Disease Conference, University of Cardiff
• 2017 Academy of Medical Sciences Poster & Presentation Prize (Finalist) South-West Region
• 2016 BACR Prize Winner (Best Overall Presentation) at Cancer Therapy Conference, University of Bristol

Teaching

I am passionate about research-led teaching. I am involved in the design, development and delivery of teaching at all levels (years 1-3, M level, doctoral, CPD); lectures, tutorials, lab practicals, computer practicals, assessments and across a range of modules within biomedical, biological and healthcare sciences. I also lead a programme (MSc Health Technology), two modules (Cell Signalling and Disease, Diagnosis & Monitoring), and the development of genomics/bioinformatics learning resources (for modules and CPD). Project supervision (BSc, MSci, MSc, MRes, doctorate).

Publications

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