Newcastle University

Background

2007-2009: Lecturer, Dermatological Sciences, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University

Roles and Responsibilities

Senior Lecturer in Cellular Dermatology and Oncology, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University
Honary Senior Lecturer, Northern Institue of Cancer Research, Newcastle University
Member of Management board, Institute of Cellular Medicine
Teaching Co-ordinator, Institute of Cellular Medicine
Member of Post Graduate Committee, Institute of Cellular Medicine,
Committee member British Society for Investigative Dermatology
Grants advisory committee member for The British Skin Foundation

Qualifications

1992 MPhil, University of Newcastle upon Tyne and University of Nothumbria
1995 PhD, University of Newcastle upon Tyne and University of Northumbria

Previous Positions

2006-2007: Academic Fellow, RCUK, Dermatological Sciences, School of Clinical & Laboratory Sciences, Newcastle University
2005-2006: Senior Research Associate, Dermatological Sciences, School of Clinical & Laboratory Sciences, Newcastle University
2004-2005, Senior Research Associate, Northern Institute of Cancer Research, Newcastle University
2000-2004, Senior Research Associate, Departments of Child Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
1995-2001, Post Doctoral Research Associate, Departments of Child Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
1988-1995, Research Associate, Departments of Child Health and Immunology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
1987-1988, Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer,Department of Immunology, Newcastle General Hospital

Memberships

Member of the British Assocation for Cancer Research
Member of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology
Member of the European Cell Death Organisation
Member of The European Society for Dermatological Research
Director of The North East Skin Research Fund

Honours and Awards

Awarded Fellowships:
Visiting Professor Award, June-September 2006 University of Rome, 'Tor Vergata' Rome, Italy
Visiting Professor Award, February to June 2004 University of Rome, 'Tor Vergata' Rome, Italy
Visiting European Fellowship, March-May 2003, European Commission COST Action 44
Visiting Fellowship, April-June 2002 European Science Foundation
1997 UK Children's Cancer Study Group Young Investigator Award
1987 Northern Regional Health Authority, Sir William Leech Research Prize

Languages

Italian

Informal Interests

Horse Riding, squash and Skiing.

Research Interests

Molecular biology and cellular signalling in skin cancer and inflammatory skin disease. Apoptotic and autophagic signalling in melanoma: development of novel therapeutic strategies and biomarkers.

Other Expertise

Molecular biology of retinoid signalling in differentiation and apoptosis in neuroectodermal tumours

Current Work

Targeting apoptosis/autophagy in melanoma. Development and validation of autophagy regulators as prognostic biomarkers for melanoma. Defining role of genetic mutations (including B-RAF) in melanoma development and progression. Translational research of novel agents for melanoma therapy in animal models.

Future Research

Defining molecular mechanisms of autophagy and development of novel therapeutic strategies for inflammatory skin disease including psoriasis.

Research Roles

Principle Investiagtor of project grants to define role of apoptosis/autophagy in melanoma and the role of oncogenic B-RAF in melanoma dvelopment, progression and resistance to chemotherapy.
Principle investigator of international collaborative studies with the University of Rome, Tor Vergata and L'Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Disease, Rome, Italy and the University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

Postgraduate Supervision

Supervision of PhD and MRes students
Personal tutor for home and international MRes (Medical and Molecular Biosciences)students
Deputy postgraduate tutor, Institute of Cellular Medicine
Teaching co-ordinator for Institute of Cellular Medicine

Esteem Indicators

European Science Foundation Fellowship(2002)
European Commission COST Action 44 fellowship award (2003)
Visiting Professor Award, The University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' (2004, 2006)
Plenary Lecturer at The National Institute of Health and 'National Cancer Institute' USA, Oncology Seminar Programme (2005)
Member of Organising Committee for the 'European Cell Death Society'
Co-organiser of United Kingdom Children's Cancer Study Group, Neuroblastoma Conference, The Beehive, Newcastle University (February 2005)
Plenary speaker at keystone symposium 'Advances in the understanding and treatment of melanoma' (2006)
Invited speaker at EU FP7 Marie Curie Symposium 'The role of autophagy in Infectious Disease and Cancer', Rome, Italy (June, 2009)
Member of the Grants Advisory Committee, British Skin Foundation, 2011, Regular Reviewer for national and international reserach grant awarding bodies: Medical Reserach Council, Cancer Research UK, Association for International Cancer Research, The British Skin Foundation, The Neuroblastoma Society (UK), SPARKS, The Italian Association for Cancer Research, The Italian Neuroblastoma Society

Regular Reviewer for Scientific journals: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Cancer Research, International Journal of Cancer, British Journal of Cancer, Cell Death and Differentiation, FEBS letters, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Clinical & Experimental Dermatology, British Journal of Dermatology

Funding

Cancer Research UK
British Skin Foundation
The Newcastle Health Care Charity
The JGW Patterson Foundation
The Neuroblastoma Society, UK
CLIC
Association for international Cancer Research
Neuroblastoma Society, Italy
Italian Association for Cancer Research

Industrial Relevance

Collaboration with Genesis Genomics UK
A company focused on the identification of bio-markers for the detection of melanoma.
Collaboration with Genzyme Inc, Boston, USA

Patents

January 2006 - Cancer Research Technology UK GB06009039
'Combining drugs protecting against ER stress in combination with ER-stress-inducing agents defines a novel and more effective theratpy for melanoma'
Inventors: Dr Penny Lovat, Professor Mark Birch-Machin, Dr Christopher Redfern

Undergraduate Teaching

Supervision of BSc Biomedical Sciences student research projects.
Personal tutor BSc Biomedical Sciences home and international students

Postgraduate Teaching

Supervison of PhD and MRes (Medical and Molecular Biosciences) students
Teaching and assessment of MRes (Medical and Molecular Biosciences) students (Cell signalling and Cancer study strands)
Personal Tutor to home and international MRes (Medical and Molecular Biosciences)students
Deputy post graduate tutor, Institute of Cellular Medicine
Teaching Co-ordinator, Institute of Cellular Medicine

• Hiscutt EL, Hill DS, Martin S, Kerr R, Harbottle A, Birch-Machin M, Redfern CPF, Fulda S, Armstrong JL, Lovat PE. Targeting X-Linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein to Increase the Efficacy of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Induced Apoptosis for Melanoma Therapy. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2010, 130(9), 2250-2258.
• Hill DS, Martin S, Armstrong JL, Flockhart R, Tonison JJ, Simpson DG, Birch-Machin MA, Redfern CPF, Lovat PE. Combining the endoplasmic reticulum stress-inducing agents bortezomib and fenretinide as a novel therapeutic strategy for metastatic melanoma. Clinical Cancer Research 2009, 15(4), 1192-1198.
• Lovat PE, Corazzari M, Armstrong JL, Martin S, Pagliarini V, Hill DS, Brown A, Piacentini M, Birch-Machin MA, Redfern CPF. Increasing melanoma cell death using inhibitors of protein disulfide isomerases to abrogate survival responses to endoplasmic reticulum stress. Cancer Research 2008, 68(13), 5363-5369.
• Armstrong, J.L., Veal, G.J., Redfern, C.P.F., Lovat, P.E. Role of Noxa in p53-independent fenretinide-induced apoptosis of neuroectodermal tumours. Apoptosis 2007, 12(3), 613-622.
• Lovat, P.E., Di Sano, F., Corazzari, M., Fazi, B., Donnorso, R., Pearson, A.D.J., Hall, A.G., Redfern, C.P.F., Piacentini, M. Gangliosides link the acidic sphingomyelinase-mediated induction of ceramide to 12-lipoxygenase-dependent apoptosis of neuroblastoma in response to fenretinide. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2004, 96(17), 1288-1299.
• Lovat, P.E., Oliverio, S, Corazzari, M., Rodolfo, C., Ranalli, M., Goranov, B., Melino, G., Redfern,C.P.F., Piacentini, M. Bak: A Downstream Mediator of Fenretinide-Induced Apoptosis of SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells. Cancer Research 2003, 63(21), 7310-7313.
• Corazzari, M., Lovat, P.E., Armstrong, J.L., Fimia, G.M., Hill, D.S., Birch-Machin, M.A., Redfern, C.P.F., Piacentini, M. Targeting homeostatic mechanisms of endoplasmic reticulum stress to increase susceptibility of cancer cells to fenretinide-induced apoptosis: The role of stress proteins ERdj5 and ERp57. British Journal of Cancer 2007, 96(7), 1062-1071.
• Flockhart RJ, Armstrong JL, Reynolds NJ, Lovat PE. NFAT signalling is a novel target of oncogenic BRAF in metastatic melanoma. British Journal of Cancer 2009, 101(8), 1448-1455.
• Lovat, P.E., Corazzari, M., Di Sano, F., Piacentini, M., Redfern, C.P.F. The role of gangliosides in fenretinide-induced apoptosis of neuroblastoma. Cancer Letters 2005. , 228(1-2), 105-110.
• Di Sano F, Fazi B, Citro G, Lovat PE, Cesareni G, Piacentini M. Glucosylceramide synthase and its functional interaction with RTN-1C regulate chemotherapeutic-induced apoptosis in neuroepithelioma cells. Cancer Research 2003, 63(14), 3860-3865.
• Corazzari, M., Lovat, P.E., Oliverio, S., Pearson, A.D.J., Piacentini, M., Redfern, C.P.F. Growth and DNA Damage-Inducible Transcription Factor 153 Mediates Apoptosis in Response to Fenretinide but Not Synergy between Fenretinide and Chemotherapeutic Drugs in Neuroblastoma. Molecular Pharmacology 2003, 64(6), 1370-1378.
• Lovat, P.E., Ranalli, M., Corazzari, M., Raffaghello, L., Pearson, A.D.J., Ponzoni, M., Piacentini, M., Melino, G., Redfern, C.P.F. Mechanisms of free-radical induction in relation to fenretinide-induced apoptosis of neuroblastoma. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 2003, 89(4), 698-708.
• Lovat, P.E., Oliverio, S., Ranalli, M., Corazzari, M., Rodolfo, C., Bernassola, F., Aughton, K., Maccarrone, M., Campbell-Hewson, Q., Pearson, A.D.J., Melino, G., Piacentini, M., Redfern, C.P.F. GADD153 and 12-lipoxygenase mediate fenretinide-induced apoptosis of neuroblastoma. Cancer Research 2002, 62(18), 5158-5167.
• Ellis RA, Armstrong JL, Kirkham N, Ness T, Horswell S, Lovat PE. p62 as a biomarker of malignant melanoma. In: Meeting of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology. 2012, Exeter, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Armstrong JL, Martin S, Illingworth NA, Jamieson D, Neilson A, Lovat PE, Redfern CPF, Veal GJ. The impact of retinoic acid treatment on the sensitivity of neuroblastoma cells to fenretinide. Oncology Reports 2012, 27(1), 293-298.
• Armstrong J, Ellis R, Polson H, Kirkham N, Horswell S, Tooze S, Lovat P. WIPI-1: a novel autophagy inhibitory protein in melanoma. In: Meeting of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology. 2012, Exeter, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Ellis RA, Armstrong JL, McKee C, Kirkham N, Ness T, Horswell S, Tooze S, Lovat PE. Biomarkers of defective autophagy in melanoma. In: British Journal of Dermatology: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology. 2011, Manchester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Armstrong J, Polson H, Ellis R, Kirkham N, Horswell S, Tooze S, Lovat P. Defective autophagy in melanoma development and progression: role of oncogenic B-RAF signalling. In: Journal of Investigative Dermatology: 41st Annual Meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research. 2011, Barcelona, Spain: Nature Publishing Group.
• Forrester AR, Lovat PE, Graham M, Williams FM, Reynolds NJ. Differential activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and regulation of differentiation in the epidermal equivalent model. In: Toxicology: Annual Congress of The British Toxicology Society. 2011, Durham, UK: Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
• Armstrong JL, Corazzari M, Martin S, Pagliarini V, Falasca L, Hill DS, Ellis N, Al Sabah S, Redfern CPF, Fimia GM, Piacentini M, Lovat PE. Oncogenic B-RAF Signaling in Melanoma Impairs the Therapeutic Advantage of Autophagy Inhibition. Clinical Cancer Research 2011, 17(8), 2216-2226.
• Armstrong JL, Corazzari M, Ellis R, Piacentini M, Tooze S, Lovat PE. Role of defective autophagy in melanoma development and progression: implication of oncogenic B-RAF signalling. In: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology. 2011, Manchester, UK: British Journal of Dermatology: Wiley-Blackwell.
• McKee CS, Lovat PE, Armstrong JL. Role of Mcl-1 in the resistance of B-RAF mutated melanoma to autophagy. In: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology. 2011, Manchester, UK: British Journal of Dermatology: Wiley-Blackwell.