Member SpotlightsGenetics Studies at the University of Wolverhampton Iain Nicholl, Ph.D. One of our newest Science Advisory Board Members  From left to right - Stuwart McGuinness (Agilent), Iain D. Nicholl, & David Callaway (NYU School of Medicine) at an arctic circle Inukshuk on Baffin Island, Canada. Iain D. Nicholl, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton, UK, where he teaches Cell Biology and Medical Genetics. His academic background includes the University of Dundee, the University of Edinburgh, the Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, and the Picower Institute in New York. Notable achievements include the Young Prize from the University of Abertay, Dundee and the Ed Uyeki Prize from the University of Glasgow. Nicholl is a current member of The Biochemical Society, UK and the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In his spare time, Nicholl enjoys mountaineering, photography, and English literature. Describe your current position and research interests. I’m currently a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at the University of Wolverhampton, teaching Cell biology and Medical Genetics with my research focused on eukaryotic DNA repair, particularly base excision repair and DNA mismatch repair. I currently have one PhD student, 2 Masters Students and 3 undergraduate students in the lab. Last year was a good year publication-wise: identifying a novel version of a DNA glycosylase and publishing our findings targeting a protein critically involved in DNA replication using cell-penetrating peptides. I’m hoping 2008 will be even better! What motivated you to pursue this research? Pursuing cell biology at Glasgow University was a brilliant introduction to the complexities of eukaryotic cells, and this excitement about the unknown has stayed with me ever since. DNA repair is a really fascinating aspect of cell biology, and defects in it can be causative in somatic and hereditary cancer, and it is this relationship between pure lab-based science and human disease and treatment that I find so stimulating. This is a great time for biomedical research. Looking back, is your current career path what you expected? What's on your agenda for the future? To develop novel versions of drugs against colorectal cancer and contribute productively to the DNA repair field, and develop our proteomic analysis facilities at the University of Wolverhampton. I’ve been very fortunate in having had the opportunity to work in some fantastic environments with great people (such as Ron Hay, Mark Kenny, Roy Quinlan, and Tony Cerami), and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’ve always loved being an experimental scientist and can hardly consider doing anything else. To discuss genetics research and other topics with fellow Science Adivisory Board members, please visit our community forum. The following are publications co-authored by Nicholl that are relevant to this Member Spotlight. Barnetson, R.A., Tenesa, A., Farrington, S.M., Nicholl, I.D., Cetnarskyj, R., Porteous, M.E. , Campbell, H., and M.G. Dunlop. (2006) Identification of Carriers of Mutant DNA Mismatch Repair Genes in Patients with Colon Cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 354:2751-2763. Owen, R.M, Baker, R.D., Bader, S., Dunlop, M.G., and I.D.Nicholl. (2007) The identification of a novel alternatively spliced form of the MBD4 DNA glycosylase. Oncology Reports, 17: 111-116, 2007. Baker, R.D., Howl, J. and I. D. Nicholl (2007) A Sychnological Cell Penetrating Peptide Mimic of p21WAF1/CIP1 is Pro-Apoptogenic. Peptides, 28: 731-740. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Member Spotlights ] |
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