Dr Heiko Wurdak

Title

SEnior Translation Research fellow (Group Leader, Stem Cells and Brain Tumour Research Group)

Email

h.wurdak@leeds.ac.uk

Phone

0113 343 8636

Address

Section of Oncology and Clinical Research

Leeds Insitute of Molecular Medicine (LIMM)

Level 5, Wellcome Trust Brenner Building

St James’ University Hospital

Leeds

LS9 7TF

BHRC Role

Senior Translational Research Fellow (Neuro-oncology)

Research Interests

• Neural stem cells/Brain tumour-initiating cells
• Brain cancer  and targeted therapy
• Functional genomics

About

Heiko Wurdak received his Ph.D. in Biology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich. His postdoctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA focused on examining stem cell differentiation through small molecules and functional genomics.

Currently we are studying the dynamic biology of tumour-initiating cell populations during brain tumorigenesis. Moreover, we are interested in mechanisms that control the balance between self-renewal and differentiation of neural progenitor cells. We are also exploring RNAi- and small molecule-based strategies to modulate cell fate decisions and to target brain tumours.

Collaboration

We maintain collaborations with clinicians and research groups located in Leeds and the Unites States including Dr. Mihaela Lorger, Prof. Alan Melcher (Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine); Dr. Lee Hazelwood, Dr. Rongjun Chen, Prof. Westhead, Prof. Deuchars (University of Leeds), Mr Paul Chumas (Leeds Teaching Hospitals); Prof. Peter G. Schultz (The Scripps Research Institute, USA), Dr. Steven Skirboll (Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center, USA), Dr. Anthony Orth (The Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, USA).