QMUL Centre for Oral Immunobiology and Regenerative Medicine

Microbially-competent skin organotypics reveal dysregulated AhR signalling in microbial dysbiosis Microbial dysbiosis is increasingly linked to skin disorders, yet the mechanisms driving these pathological processes remain poorly understood. This study developed microbially competent 3D skin organ...

New preprint! 🧪
This was a fantastic collaboration led by an expert team of skin biologists at the @blizardinstitute.bsky.social who developed 3D skin models to study host–microbiome interactions in dandruff. Our lab @qmul-coirm.bsky.social contributed to the microbiology! 1/

Prof Farida Fortune CBE recipient of the Slack Award 2025

We co-produce research with the people it's for. Our CAB includes British Pakistani & British Bangladeshi community voices and we work with social orgs, charities & faith groups.
Here’s #2 of 10 in our anniversary countdown. #GenesAndHealth10

COVID-19 exposure risks and protective measures in East Londons healthcare and academic sectors: Insights and applications of GloBody technology for infectious disease monitoring The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for effective protection and rapid development of tests to track and quantify seroconversion through natural infection and vaccination. Recombinant proteins,...

Thanks for your support. To all Crowd funders. multiple-sclerosis-research.org/2025/04/than...
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Don't forget to secure your place and submit your abstract for the LSCN 8th Annual Symposium!
🔗Registration: eventbrite.co.uk/e/8th-annual...
Website: lscn.co.uk (where the final agenda will be published soon)
Abstract submission (deadline 04/04!) docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

New steps for Open Science actions at Queen Mary University of London, including the official support to the Peer Community In Initiative Queen Mary University of London is delighted to announce its official support for the Peer Community In (PCI) initiative. This marks a pivotal moment in advancing ethical, transparent, and accessible ...

New steps for Open Science actions at @qmul.ac.uk, including the official support to the Peer Community In Initiative @elisabettaversace.bsky.social @alexmielke.bsky.social
www.seresearch.qmul.ac.uk/news/4917/ne...

NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) (@nihrspcr.bsky.social) NIHR School for Primary Care Research is a partnership between 9 leading academic centres for primary care research in England. A/C managed by Directorate Team

Exciting opportunity! The @nihrspcr.bsky.social Summer Internship Programme 2025 has launched.

A fantastic chance for UK undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience in primary care research.

Apply now: spcr.nihr.ac.uk/career-devel...

#PrimaryCare #Internship

@qmulprimarycare.bsky.social

From big data and experimental models to clinical trials: Iterative strategies in microbiome research For microbiome research to be translated into clinical applications, the field needs to move beyond correlational studies; we suggest adopting a multi-phase iterative approach that leverages in vivo a...

From big data and experimental models to clinical trials: Iterative strategies in microbiome research: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Trends in the global, regional, and national burden of oral conditions from 1990 to 2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 The WHO Global Oral Health Action Plan has set an overarching global target of achieving a 10% reduction in the prevalence of oral conditions by 2030.…

Congratulations to Professor of Dental Public Health, Eduardo Bernabé, and a group of international colleagues on the publication of global, WHO region, and country-level estimates of the prevalence of oral health conditions. Read more at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

One of Europe's largest organ-on-a-chip facilities opens at Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London opens state-of-the-art facilities to replace animal testing with c£750k from NC3Rs and our industry partners. Queen Mary University of London has officially opened one...

Just opened: state-of-the-art facilities to replace animal testing with c£750k from @nc3rs.bsky.social and industry partners.

www.sems.qmul.ac.uk/news/7091/on...

#animaltesting #organonchip #invitromodels #BiomedicalEngineering #engineeringstudent @qmulse.bsky.social @qmul.ac.uk

A new study in @elife.bsky.social led by #COIRM researchers Dr. Saima Usman & Prof. Ahmad Waseem reveals that swapping one amino acid (cysteine→serine) in the protein vimentin makes breast #cancer cells far more aggressive. 🧪 1/n
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

“Our discovery shows how a small molecular tweak can trigger cancer cells to act like cancer stem cells,” explains Prof. Waseem. This finding may offer a powerful way to spot and target these aggressive cells early, paving the way for better diagnosis and treatment. 3/3 #COIRM #cancer

This tiny amino acid change disrupts the cell’s structural network, spurs rapid growth, migration, and invasion, and turns cells estrogen-independent in immune-compromised mice. They also found higher levels of a “non-coding” RNA, XIST, and #cancer stem cell markers (CD56, CD20). #ncRNA 2/n

A new study in @elife.bsky.social led by #COIRM researchers Dr. Saima Usman & Prof. Ahmad Waseem reveals that swapping one amino acid (cysteine→serine) in the protein vimentin makes breast #cancer cells far more aggressive. 🧪 1/n
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Athena Swan silver award

We're delighted that our colleagues in the Institute of Dentistry have received a silver #AthenaSwan award! The award recognises the Institute's continuing commitment and achievements in gender equality. Read more about the award here: www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/2...

📣 Workshop announcement! Join us on the 5th of Feb at @qmul.ac.uk to discuss the latest advancements in #organoids research!
Info and registration here www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/organoids-...

@simoesfilipa.bsky.social @inesequeira.bsky.social @qkine.bsky.social @qmul-coirm.bsky.social

Goal accomplished! First @walkolab.bsky.social PhD student project published as pre-print on (Austrian) Christmas Day 🥳

Newton International Fellowships | Royal Society This fellowship is for non-UK scientists who are at an early stage of their research career and wish to conduct research in the UK.

🚨 Postdoc Opportunity in London! 🚨

Join us to explore oral & skin inflammation with single-cell and spatial omics. We're supporting candidates for the Newton International Fellowships.

Interested? DM me! More info: royalsociety.org/grants/newto...

#Postdoc #Omics #Inflammation #NewtonFellowships

Huge congratulations to everyone graduating this week as part of our Winter ceremonies 🎓🎉 #QMULGrad

Dr Grace Megan Howell Graduation at QMUL with supervisors. Louisa James and Angray Kang

Rahaf Alsharani & Wasan Alfayez Graduation in MSc Experimental Oral Pathology at QMUL

🚨Deadline is 6th Jan to apply for a PhD with me and @drsimonmcarthur.bsky.social, at the EPSRC funded QMUL CDT. Come and work on the host-microbe interactions in the human mouth with us at the @qmul-coirm.bsky.social group based in the Blizard Institute! #PhD #3D #organotypics #metabolomics

Cerebrovascular damage caused by the gut microbe/host co-metabolite p-cresol sulfate is prevented by blockade of the EGF receptor The gut microbiota-brain axis has been associated with the pathogenesis of numerous disorders, but the mechanism(s) underlying these links are generally poorly understood. Accumulating evidence ind...

The researchers also found that a class of ‘inhibitor’ type drugs – which can block chemical reactions in the body – showed promising results in being able to prevent this damage from occurring. Find out more: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

P-cresol sulfate is a molecule produced by the gut microbiome and has been seen to accumulate in the blood of patients with CKD. The study found that the toxin triggers a process which damages the critically protective blood–brain barrier, increasing the risks of strokes and other issues.

Illustration of a human brain. By meeboonstudio on iStockphoto

New research by @drsimonmcarthur.bsky.social and colleagues at Nottingham Trent University has found that a toxin found in the blood of patients with chronic kidney disease (#CKD) damages the body’s protective blood–brain barrier, likely contributing to the risk of #stroke.

Japanese researchers test pioneering drug to regrow teeth People with missing teeth may be able to grow new ones, say Japanese dentists testing a pioneering drug they hope will offer an alternative to dentures and implants.

Bit of commentary on fantastic exciting area using antibodies in Dentistry. Prof Takahashi group in Japan leading the way. Will follow this research closely. Immunotechnology in Dentistry coming of age. One day maybe even collaborate?
www.france24.com/en/live-news...

Congratulations to Walko Lab research assistant Elodie Sins for being selected to join the “Project management for technicians” programmes from the Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy next year. So well deserved 😊

Also fantastic talk from @iamabyron.bsky.social about adhesion protein-driven regulation of gene expression in cutaneous SCC.

It’s been a great pleasure to help organize and chair the session on squamous cancers at this year’s Skin@Bath @uniofbath.bsky.social meeting. Big shoutout to Prof Charareh Pourzand for organising a fantastic diverse skin research meeting.

Great representation of @qmulfmd.bsky.social @qmul-coirm.bsky.social @blizardinstitute.bsky.social through presentations of Dr Gernot Walko and Dr Ryan O’Shaugnessy.