Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology
I joined the School of Medicine as a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology in 2021 having held the position of a Senior lecturer in Biochemistry in the School of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Sciences since 2016.
I graduated from Queen Mary (University of London) in 2001 with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and completed my PhD in 2005 from the Northern Institute for Cancer Research, University of Newcastle where I developed small molecule inhibitors targeting protein-protein interaction for the treatment of cancers.
I then undertook postdoctoral research at the University of York investigating basal signalling pathways to identify drug development targets in cancers and contributed to the undergraduate teaching programme. I moved to CRUK Beaton Institute, Glasgow in 2011 as a postdoctoral researcher and then relocated to the Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow.
My primary research interest is on glioblastomas; an incurable brain tumour. The aim of my laboratory is to identify signalling pathways that can be targeted for the development novel therapeutics for the treatment of glioblastomas.
Teaching and supervision
I teach the following courses:
- MBChB Medicine
- MPharm Pharmacy
- MSc Drug Discovery and Development
- MSc Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Formulation
Current PhD students as Director of Studies:
- Sara Azeem (expected completion 2022)
Identification of metabolic signatures in glioblastoma for therapeutic exploitation.
- Jen Coulson (expected completion 2024)
Development and validation of small molecule inhibitors for the treatment of Glioblastomadentification.
Previous PhD students as Director of Studies:
- Najla Yussuf Moosa (completed 2021)
Molecular and Biological characteristic of 2D and 3D glioblastoma stem-like cell culture models. Currently Research Scientist at Histocyte Labarotories (Newcastle, UK).
Research interests for potential research students
- Metabolomics studies in Glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs)
- DNA damage response in GSCs
- Repurposing existing drugs to target Glioblastoma
Research
My main research focus is in the development and identification of novel therapeutics for the treatment of Glioblastomas (GBMs). GBMs are the most common form of primary brain tumour in adults. Despite optimal treatment consisting of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy tumour recurrence is inevitable. This is thought to be driven by a population of GBM stem-like cells (GSCs) which are resistant to the therapies and can give rise to new tumours.
My research has identified optimal strategies to target GSC population and revealed distinct metabolic alterations in GSCs circuitry. My current research focuses on metabolomics, DNA damage signalling, high throughput siRNA and drug library screening in GSCs with the aim to identify and develop novel therapeutics to improve the outcomes for patients with glioblastoma.
Publications
Article
Moosa, Najla Yussuf, Ahmed, Shafiq, Azeem, Sara Abdullah and Cheung, William (2024) Vitamin B6 Pathway Maintains Glioblastoma Cell Survival in 3D Spheroid Cultures. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25 (19). p. 10428. ISSN 1661-6596
Moosa, Najla Yussuf, Azeem, Sara Abdullah, Lodge, John K, Cheung, William and Ahmed, Shafiq (2024) Vitamin B6 Pathway Maintains Glioblastoma Cell Survival in 3D Spheroid Cultures. International journal of molecular sciences, 25 (10428). p. 10428. ISSN 1422-0067
Myssina, Svetlana, Clark-Corrigall, John, Michaelis, Martin, Cinatl, Jindrich, Ahmed, Shafiq and Carr-Wilkinson, Jane (2022) Elevated Expression of LGR5 and WNT Signaling Factors in Neuroblastoma Cells With Acquired Drug Resistance. Cancer Investigation, 41 (2). pp. 173-182. ISSN 0735-7907
Carruthers, Ross D., Ahmed, Shafiq, Ramachandran, Shaliny, Strathdee, Karen, Kurian, Kathreena M., Hedley, Ann, Gomez-Roman, Natividad, Kalna, Gabriela, Neilson, Mathew, Gilmour, Lesley, Stevenson, Katrina H., Hammond, Ester M. and Chalmers, Anthony J. (2018) Replication Stress Drives Constitutive Activation of the DNA Damage Response and Radioresistance in Glioblastoma Stem-like Cells. Cancer Research, 78 (17). pp. 5060-5071. ISSN 0008-5472
Ahmed, Shafiq, Carruthers, R., Biasoli, D., Gomez-Roman, N., Gilmour, L., Strathdee, K., Hedley, A., Kalna, G., Hammond, E. and Chalmers, A. J. (2016) P08.36 Radioresistance of glioblastoma stem-like cells is associated with DNA replication stress, which is a promising therapeutic target. Neuro-Oncology, 18 (s4). iv49. ISSN 1522-8517
Kaur, A., Denisova, O., Qiao, X., Jumppanen, M., Peuhu, E., Ahmed, Shafiq, Raheem, O., Haapasalo, H. K., Eriksson, J., Chalmers, A. J., Laakkonen, P. M. and Westermarck, J. (2016) PP2A inhibitor PME-1 drives kinase inhibitor resistance in glioma cells. Cancer Research, 76 (23). pp. 7001-7011. ISSN 0008-5472
Tardito, S, Oudin, A, Ahmed, Shafiq, Fack, F, Keunen, O, Zheng, L, Miletic, H, Sakariassen, P, Weinstock, A, Wagner, A, Lindsay, S, Hock, A, Barnett, S, Ruppin, E, Morkve, S, Lund-Johansen, M, Chalmers, A, Bjerkvig, R, Niclou, S and Gottlieb, E (2015) Glutamine synthetase activity fuels nucleotide biosynthesis and supports growth of glutamine-restriced glioblastoma. Nature Cell Biology, 17 (12). pp. 1556-1568. ISSN 1465-7392
Ahmed, Shafiq, Carruthers, R, Gilmour, L, Yildirim, S, Watts, C and Chalmers, A (2015) Selective inhibition of parallel DNA damage response pathways optimizes radiosensitization of glioblastoma stem-like cells. Cancer Research, 75 (20). pp. 4416-4428. ISSN 0008-5472
Ichim, G, Lopez, J, Ahmed, Shafiq, Muthalagu, N, Giampazolias, E, Delgado, E, Haller, Martina, Riley, Joel S, Mason, Susan, Athineos, Dimitris, Parsons, MJ, Kooij, BVD, Bouchier-Hayes, L, Chalmers, A, Rooswinkel, R, Oberst, A, Blyth, K, Rehm, M, Murphy, D and Tait, S (2015) Limited mitochondrial permeabilisation causes DNA-damage and genomic instability in the absence of cell death. Molecular Cell, 57 (5). pp. 860-872. ISSN 1097-2765
Carruthers, R, Ahmed, Shafiq, Strathdee, Karen, Gomez-Roman, N, Amoah-Buahin, E, Watts, C and Chalmers, A (2014) Abrogation of radioresistance in in glioblastoma stem-like cells by inhibition of ATM kinase. Molecular Oncology, 9 (1). pp. 192-203. ISSN 1878-0261
Blackburn, TJ, Ahmed, Shafiq, Coxon, CR, Liu, J, Lu, X, Golding, BT, Griffin, RJ, Hutton, C, Newell, DR, Ojo, S, Watson, AF, Zaytzev, A, Zhao, Y, Lunec, J and Hardcastle, IR (2013) Diaryl- and triaryl-pyrrole derivatives: inhibitors of the MDM2-p53 and MDMX-p53 protein-protein interactions. Med. Chem. Commun., 4 (9). pp. 1297-1304.
Shah, Z, Ahmed, Shafiq, Ford, J, Allison, S, Knight, J and Milner, J (2012) A Deacetylase-Deficient SIRT1 Variant Opposes Full-Length SIRT1 in Regulating Tumor Suppressor p53 and Governs Expression of Cancer-Related Genes. Mol Cell Biol., 32 (3). pp. 704-716.
Hardcastle, IR, Liu, J, Valeur, E, Watson, A, Ahmed, Shafiq, Blackburn, TJ, Bennaceur, K, Clegg, W, Drummond, C, Endicott, JA, Golding, BT, Griffin, RJ, Gruber, J, Haggerty, K, Harrington, RW, Hutton, C, Kemp, S, Lu, X, McDonnell, JM, Newell, DR, Noble, ME, Payne, SL, Revill, CH, Riedinger, C, Xu, Q and Lunec, J (2011) Isoindolinone Inhibitors of the Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2)-p53 Protein-Protein Interaction: Structure-Activity Studies Leading to Improved Potency. J Med Chem, 54 (5). pp. 1233-43.
Lynch, CJ, Shah, ZH, Allison, SJ, Ahmed, Shafiq, Ford, J, Warnock, LJ, Li, H, Serrano, M and Milner, J (2010) SIRT1 undergoes alternative splicing in a novel auto-regulatory loop with p53. PLoS ONE, 4 (10).
Ahmed, Shafiq and Milner, J (2009) Basal cancer cell survival involves JNK2 suppression of a novel JNK1/c-Jun/Bcl-3 apoptotic network. PLoS ONE, 4 (10).
Ford, J, Ahmed, Shafiq, Allison, S, Jiang, M and Milner, J (2008) JNK2 dependent regulation of SIRT1 protein stability. Cell Cycle, 7 (19). pp. 3091-3097.
Hardcastle, IR, Ahmed, Shafiq, Atkins, H, Farnie, G, Golding, BT, Griffin, RJ, Guyenne, S, Hutton, C, Kallblad, P, Kemp, SJ, Kitching, MS, Newell, DR, Norbedo, S, Northen, JS, Reid, RJ, Saravanan, K, Willems, HM and Lunec, J (2006) Small-molecule inhibitors of the MDM2-p53 protein-protein interaction based on an isoindolinone scaffold. J Med Chem, 49 (21). pp. 6209-6221.
Hardcastle, IR, Ahmed, Shafiq, Atkins, H, Calvert, AH, Curtin, NJ, Farnie, G, Golding, BT, Griffin, RJ, Guyenne, S, Hutton, C, Kallblad, P, Kemp, SJ, Kitching, MS, Newell, DR, Norbedo, S, Northen, JS, Reid, RJ, Saravanan, K, Willems, H and Lunec, J (2005) Isoindolinone-based inhibitors of the MDM2-p53 protein-protein interaction. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 15 (5). pp. 1515-1520.
Conference or Workshop Item
Mysina, Svetlana, Ahmed, Shafiq, Michaelis, Martin, Cinatl Jr, Jindrich, Adejuwon, Damilola, Zaka, Masood and Carr-Wilkinson, Jane (2018) Investigating the role of cancer stem cell related genes in acquired drug resistance in neuroblastoma. In: Advances in Neuroblastoma Research 2018, May 9th -12th 2018, San Francisco.
Ahmed, Shafiq (2016) High throughput screening campaigns for the development of novel therapeutics in Glioblastomas. In: Academic Screening Group Meeting, 6 May 2016, CRUK Manchester. (Unpublished)
- DNA damage signalling in cancers
- Cancer metabolism
- 3D tumour models
- High throughput siRNA and drug screening
- Brain tumours
- Cancer therapeutics
- Journal of Cellular and Molecular Oncology
- OncoTargets and Therapy
Memberships
- American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
- European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)
- British Association for Cancer Research (BACR)