09 December| 14:30 | Salão nobre ICBAS/FFUP
Chair: Ana Magalhães
Title: Combining synthetic matrices and engineered cells to understand GAG structure-function relationships
Cathy Merry is a Professor of Stem Cell Glycobiology at the Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, UK and Visiting Professor of Proteoglycan Research, Uppsala University, Sweden, with an area of expertise in matrix biology, proteoglycans and developmental biology. Cathy leads a lively, dynamic, interdisciplinary research group that is discovering previously unknown mechanistic regulation of cell behaviour by glycans in health and disease and, more broadly, the role of the pericellular matrix in controlling cell behaviour. To do this, they have created stem cell-based tools and novel 3D culture environments that now support large collaborative research projects in cancer and inherited rare disease modelling. Cathy Merry is the deputy associate pro-vice chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and she has a particular interest in improving research culture and creating an inclusive research environment. Cathy currently sits on the board of the National Centre for the Refinement, Replacement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) in the UK and she is passionate about improving the quality of in vitro alternatives to the use of animals in research. Publications over the past 5 years have included the first report of defects in an enzyme of the heparan sulphate pathway in humans (HS2ST) as well as multiple in vitro models for glioblastoma and medulloblastoma.
Cathy Merry and her team have recently started a new collaborative project – GlycoWeb, where they are using models of early development to probe structure-function relationships of glycosaminoglycans. Cathy will talk about this project, the need for the work and what they are aiming to discover.
Chair: Ana Magalhães
Title: Combining synthetic matrices and engineered cells to understand GAG structure-function relationships