Dr Cristina Correia Antunes Pina
Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences
Heinz Wolff 229
- Email: cristina.pina@brunel.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)1895 266676
Summary
I am a clinically-trained research scientist working in the field of cancer epigenetics. I am fascinated by the mechanisms through which cells diversify their molecular composition, and consequently vary their morphology and their function, to make organs, regenerate tissues, and produce tumours. While some of those diversification mechanisms rely on genetic mutations, others explore the way in which cells read their genes to produce the RNA and proteins that underlie cell function. The latter are referred to as epigenetic mechanisms.
My research is focused on understanding and manipulating epigenetic mechanisms to alter cell identity, and in particular, it aims to probe their role in cancer evolution in an attempt to unveil new therapies.
Qualifications
Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy UK, 2020
DPhil Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, 2008
Medical Doctor, Full registration, Ordem dos Medicos Portuguesa, 2000
MBBS (Licenciatura em Medicina), University of Lisbon, 1998
Responsibility
I am a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences with Research and Teaching responsibilities.
Newest selected publications
Pina, C. (2024) 'Contributions of transcriptional noise to leukaemia evolution: KAT2A as a case-study'. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379 (1900). pp. 1 - 11. ISSN: 0962-8436 Open Access Link
Dijkhuis, L., Johns, A., Ragusa, D., van den Brink, S. and Pina, C. (2023) 'Haematopoietic development and HSC formation in vitro: promise and limitations of gastruloid models'. Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, 7 (4). pp. 439 - 454. ISSN: 2397-8554 Open Access Link
Ragusa, D., Suen, C-W., Torregrosa Cortes, G., Dijkhuis, L., Byrne, C., Ionescu, G-A., et al. (2022) 'Dissecting infant leukemia developmental origins with a hemogenic gastruloid model'. biorXiv. pp. 1 - 43.Open Access Link
Ragusa, D., Cicirò, Y., Federico, C., Saccone, S., Bruno, F., Saeedi, R., et al. (2022) 'Engineered model of t(7;12)(q36;p13) AML recapitulates patient-specific features and gene expression profiles'. Oncogenesis, 11 (1). pp. 1 - 7. ISSN: 2157-9024 Open Access Link
Gupta, S., Dovey, OM., Domingues, AF., Cyran, OW., Cash, CM., Giotopoulos, G., et al. (2022) 'Transcriptional variability accelerates pre-leukemia by cell diversification and perturbation of protein synthesis'. Science advances, 8 (31). pp. 1 - 15. ISSN: 2375-2548 Open Access Link