Beth Coyle
Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Biography
I am an Associate Professor in the School of Clinical Sciences (tenured September 2005, promoted August 2011). I joined the University of Nottingham Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre (CBTRC) in 2002 as an independent Research Fellow, based in the School of Biology. Previously, I was a research associate (1999-2002) with Professor Gerald Cohen in the Biochemical Toxicology Section of the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester. My first postdoctoral position (1995-1999) was with Professor Richard Trembath in the Institute of Genetics at the University of Leicester. I obtained my BSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Edinburgh in 1991, and my PhD (also University of Edinburgh) at the MRC Human Genetics Unit (supervised by Professor David Porteous) in Edinburgh in 1995.
Expertise Summary
I have over 20 years of experience in molecular biology and cell biology directed more recently (last 10 years) at understanding drug resistance in paediatric brain tumours as part of the Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre (CBTRC). I have expertise in gene mapping, mutational analysis, apoptotic pathways and pre-clinical cancer studies.
Teaching Summary
I lecture MSc students on the Stem Cell Technology Course and BMedSci undergraduates on the role of stem cells in cancer. I also lecture MSc students on the Translational Neuroscience module on… read more
Research Summary
My research is mainly focused on primitive neuroectodermal tumours (PNETs) and ependymomas both of which are inherently drug resistant. I am specifically interested in the role that cancer stem cells… read more
Recent Publications
KILDAY J, MITRA B, DOMERG C, WARD J, ANDREIUOLO F, OSTESO-IBANEZ T, MAUGUEN A, VARLET P, LE DELEY M, LOWE J, ELLISON DW, GILBERTSON RJ, COYLE B, GRILL J and GRUNDY RG, 2012. Copy Number Gain Of 1Q25 Predicts Poor Progression-Free Survival For Pediatric Intracranial Ependymomas And Enables Patient Risk Stratification. Clinical Cancer Research : An Official Journal Of The American Association For Cancer Research. (In Press.)
BARROW, JENNIFER, ADAMOWICZ-BRICE, MARTYNA, CARTMILL, MARIA, MACARTHUR, DONALD, LOWE, JAMES, ROBSON, KEITH, BRUNDLER, MARIE-ANNE, WALKER, DAVID A, COYLE, BETH and GRUNDY, RICHARD, 2011. Homozygous loss of ADAM3A revealed by genome-wide analysis of pediatric high-grade glioma and diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas. Neuro-oncology. 13(2), 212-22 MILLER, SUZANNE, ROGERS, HAZEL A, LYON, PAUL, RAND, VIKKI, ADAMOWICZ-BRICE, MARTYNA, CLIFFORD, STEVEN C, HAYDEN, JAMES T, DYER, SARA, PFISTER, STEFAN, KORSHUNOV, ANDREY, BRUNDLER, MARIE-ANNE and LOWE, JA, 2011. Genome-wide molecular characterization of central nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumor and pineoblastoma. Neuro-oncology. 13(8), 866-79
I lecture MSc students on the Stem Cell Technology Course and BMedSci undergraduates on the role of stem cells in cancer. I also lecture MSc students on the Translational Neuroscience module on pre-clinical cancer models.
In the lab I supervise BSc and BMedSci undergraduates. I also take MSc students on the MSc Oncology and MSc Molecular Diagnostic courses.
I am currently the primary supervisor for 2 PhD students (Warisara Petschri and Ramadhan Othman) and second supervisor for another 3 PhD students (Ayat Al-Ghafar, Musah-Eroje Ahmed, and Stuart Smith). I am advisor to another 2 PhD students from other schools and I have several medical student tutees.
Current Research
My research is mainly focused on primitive neuroectodermal tumours (PNETs) and ependymomas both of which are inherently drug resistant. I am specifically interested in the role that cancer stem cells play in drug resistance. Currently, I am investigating ways to circumvent drug resistance mediated by MGMT, the BCl-2 family and multidrug transporters.
Past Research
Before joining the CBTRC I worked at the MRC Toxicology unit in Leicester, investigating the transcriptional response to apoptotic inducing agents.The most informative system proved to be transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGFβ1)-induced apoptosis in FaO hepatoma. Although TGFβ1 acts via the SMAD signaling pathway to initiate de novo gene transcription, little was known about the downstream gene targets that are involved in the regulation of apoptosis. By data mining and cluster analysis of expression data I was able to identify an early response set of nine down-regulated genes that are involved in antioxidant defence that may in fact represent the primary mechanism through which TGFβ1 initiates apoptosis.
Prior to that I started my postdoctoral career in the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester. I investigated the genetic basis of Pendred Syndrome, an autosomal recessive disorder associated with developmental abnormalities of the cochlea, sensorineural hearing loss, and diffuse thyroid enlargement. Using linkage analysis I identified the pendrin gene then 78% of the underlying mutations in 31 affected families. My PhD at the MRC Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh was also focused on mapping and mutational analysis of another deafness disorder (Usher Syndrome Type IB).
Future Research
I have recently become interested in investigating metastatic tumours, particularly from the perspective of whether or not these represent a different biological entity to the primary tumour. I would like to compare the response to therapy of primary to metastatic tumours in model systems.