About Dr Jane Carr-Wilkinson
I'm a Senior Lecturer in Pathology and academic lead for year five in the School of Medicine. I'm a unit lead and contribute to teaching and learning in units related to physiology and the pathology of disease in phase one of MBChB Medicine.
In my role as PVC Learning and Teaching Fellow in Transnational Education, I'm leading on a strategic university-wide project that involves developing and integrating opportunities for students to engage in collaborative teaching and learning with our international partner institutions to promote intercultural learning and competency.
My research interests are focused on pluripotent stem cell differentiation to neural crest cells to decipher the link between development and neuroblastoma initiation.
Teaching and supervision
I'm a Senior Lecturer in Pathology in the School of Medicine. I'm also the academic lead for year five and electives lead. I teach a range of subject areas in the MBChB curriculum, including physiology, pathophysiology – with a focus on mechanisms of human disease, cellular injury and adaptation, and cancer biology.
I'm a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy with interests in models of patient simulation and the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in higher education.
Interests
I welcome enquiries from research students interested in childhood cancer research including:
- The molecular and cellular analysis of childhood tumours, primarily neuroblastoma
- Cancer stem cell pathways and disease relapse (clonal evolution)
- LGR5 and the WNT signalling pathway in childhood cancer
- Stem cell models and differentiation
Research
My research interests focus on:
- Investigating the genes and signaling networks underlying neuroblastoma initiation and acquired drug resistance, with a particular focus on stemness genes.
- Using human pluripotent stem cell models, including neural crest cells, as a tool to study neuroblastoma initiation and progression.
Furthermore, I am a co-investigator on a collaborative study with Newcastle University investigating mechanisms of neurotoxicity in primary neural cells lines and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (IPSC) derived neurons.
Areas of expertise
- Human pluripotent stem cells and neuroblastoma
- Mechanisms of acquired drug resistance in childhood cancer
- Induced pluripotent stem cell models of neurotoxicity
- Academic leadership
- Equality, diversity and inclusion
- International partnerships