Simon Leedham

Defining the mucosal ecosystem: epithelial–mesenchymal interdependence in gastrointestinal health and disease - Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology This Review focuses on epithelial–mesenchymal crosstalk and how these interactions shape development, health and disease in the intestinal mucosa. The dynamic nature of this ecosystem is highlighted, ...

New review on the importance of intestinal epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk - from development and homeostasis through to regeneration to neoplasia. Excellent collaboration with Frances England, Manquiang Lin and Michael Sigal

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This work was brilliantly co-led by Eoghan Mulholland and Hayley Belnoue-Davis and benefitted from wonderful academic and industrial collaborations
@cruk-si.bsky.social @oxfordcancer.bsky.social

Epithelial GREMLIN1 disrupts intestinal epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk to induce a wnt-dependent ectopic stem cell niche through stromal remodelling - Nature Communications The authors show that aberrant epithelial GREM1 expression remodels intestinal stroma to form ectopic stem cell niches in mice. Anti-GREM1 reversed these changes, highlighting a potential strategy for...

Finally out! A longstanding project to explore the mechanism behind ectopic crypt formation in polyps when GREM1 is aberrantly expressed in HMPS patients. Turns out it is all to do with stromal remodelling and epithelial-mesenchymal interdependence!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

£5.5m research funding to transform bowel cancer care - Cancer Research UK - Cancer News The CRC-STARS team will learn more about how bowel cancer behaves so that it can potentially be treated in a more personalised way

So excited to get underway on CRC-STARS - a brilliant collaborative effort to improve therapies for colorectal cancer. Thanks to all the colleagues, patients and funders for helping us get here!

news.cancerresearchuk.org/2025/03/31/5...

Low-coverage whole genome sequencing of low-grade dysplasia strongly predicts advanced neoplasia risk in ulcerative colitis Background The risk of developing advanced neoplasia (AN; colorectal cancer and/or high-grade dysplasia) in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients with a low-grade dysplasia (LGD) lesion is variable and dif...

Delighted our work using aneuploidy as a biomarker of colorectal cancer risk in inflammatory bowel disease is out: gut.bmj.com/content/earl...

The initial reaction from patients&families has been overwhelming

Led by Ibrahim AlBakir @yosoykit.bsky.social @cancerresearchuk.org @icrlondon.bsky.social

Low-coverage whole genome sequencing of low-grade dysplasia strongly predicts advanced neoplasia risk in ulcerative colitis Background The risk of developing advanced neoplasia (AN; colorectal cancer and/or high-grade dysplasia) in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients with a low-grade dysplasia (LGD) lesion is variable and dif...

Today our study using copy number alterations (CNAs) from low-coverage WGS to predict FUTURE colorectal cancer in patients with IBD is published, details in thread! 1/5
gut.bmj.com/content/earl...

Exciting new academic-industrial collaboration to improve the understanding of precancer biology and prevent cancer progression