Staff Profile

My research interests have been focused on using new technology to improve identification and stratification of B-cell precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (BCP-ALL) patients, with an aim to minimise treatment morbidity and mortality, and relapse. My PhD tackled this area by characterising a rare subgroup of BCP-ALL featuring translocations between the Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain locus (IGH) and the CCAAT Enhance Binding Protein (CEBP) gene family. In my current role in the Irving Group this passion has been transferred into the study of minimal residual disease (MRD), working to improve detection of MRD and also to characterise pathway deregulation within this subgroup of cells, with the aim of exploiting pathway deregulation to more efficiently eliminate the chemoresistant sub-population. As a member of the Irving Group I have had the opportunity to train in the identification of MRD by Flow Cytometry, and also to develop a MRD panel for a new cytometric technique, Mass Cytometry to identify both cell surface and intracellular markers.

Area of expertise: oncology, haematology

Google Scholar: Click here.

• Williams MT, Yousafzai YM, Elder A, Rehe K, Bomken S, Frishman-Levy L, Tavor S, Sinclair P, Dormon K, Masic D, Perry T, Weston VJ, Kearns P, Blair H, Russell LJ, Heidenreich O, Irving JA, Izraeli S, Vormoor J, Graham GJ, Halsey C. The ability to cross the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier is a generic property of acute lymphoblastic leukemia blasts. Blood 2016, 127(16), 1998-2006.
• Masic D, Enshaei A, Jones L, Harrison C, Russell LJ. Genetic Characterisation of Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Locus CCAAT Enhancer-Binding Protein Translocated Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. In: 57th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. 2015, Orlando, FL, USA.
• Russell LJ, Enshaei A, Jones L, Erhorn A, Masic D, Bentley H, Laczko KS, Fielding AK, Goldstone AH, Goulden N, Mitchell CD, Wade R, Vora A, Moorman AV, Harrison CJ. IGH@ Translocations Are Prevalent in Teenagers and Young Adults With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Are Associated With a Poor Outcome. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2014, 32(14), 1453-1462.
• Moorman AV, Schwab C, Ensor HM, Russell LJ, Morrison H, Jones L, Masic D, Patel B, Rowe JM, Tallman M, Goldstone AH, Fielding AK, Harrison CJ. IGH@ Translocations, CRLF2 Deregulation and Microdeletions in Adolescents and Adults with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2012, 30(25), 3100-3108.
• Ensor HM, Schwab C, Russell LJ, Richards SM, Morrison H, Masic D, Jones L, Kinsey SE, Vora AJ, Mitchell CD, Harrison CJ, Moorman AV. Demographic, clinical, and outcome features of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and CRLF2 deregulation: results from the MRC ALL97 clinical trial. Blood 2011, 117(7), 2129-2136.
• Rand V, Parker H, Russell LJ, Schwab C, Ensor H, Irving J, Jones L, Masic D, Minto L, Morrison H, Ryan S, Robinson H, Sinclair P, Moorman A, Strefford J, Harrison CJ. Genomic characterization implicates iAMP21 as a likely primary genetic event in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood 2011, 117(25), 6848-6855.
• Doan M, Case M, Masic D, Hennig H, McQuin C, Caicedo J, Singh S, Goodman A, Wolkenhauer O, Summers H, Jamieson D, van Delft FW, Filby A, Carpenter A, Rees P, Irving J. Label-Free Leukemia Monitoring by Computer Vision. Cytometry A 2020, 97(4), 407-414.
• Matheson EC, Thomas H, Case M, Blair H, Jackson RK, Masic D, Veal G, Halsey C, Newell DR, Vormoor J, Irving JAE. Glucocorticoids and selumetinib are highly synergistic in RAS pathway mutated childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia through upregulation of BIM. Haematologica 2019, 104(9), 1804-1811.