Cologne Seminars on Ageing "Reciprocal gut/body interactions in health and disease."

About Dr. Cordero´s talk:

The adult intestine is a major barrier epithelium and coordinator of multi-organ functions. Stem cells constantly repair the intestinal epithelium by adjusting their proliferation and differentiation to tissue intrinsic as well as micro- and macro-environmental signals. How these signals integrate to control intestinal and whole-body homeostasis is largely unknown. Addressing this gap in knowledge is central to an improved understanding of intestinal pathophysiology and its systemic consequences.

Combining Drosophila and mammalian model systems my laboratory has discovered fundamental mechanisms driving intestinal regeneration and tumourigenesis and outlined complex inter-organ signaling regulating health and disease.
We have three interrelated areas of research in the lab, which I will discuss during my seminar.

1. Identify and characterise stem cell intrinsic adaptations underpinning intestinal regeneration and tumourigenesis.
2. Elucidate interactions between the intestine and its microenvironment influencing intestinal regeneration and tumourigenesis.
3. Characterise how long-range signals from the intestine impact whole-body in health and disease.

Scientific Background:

Julia Cordero was born and raised in Argentina. After completing her University studies in her home country, Julia moved to the USA to her PhD studies in the laboratory of Ross Cagan at Washington University in St Louis where she studied developmental tissue patterning in Drosophila. In 2009, Julia moved to Owen Sansom’s group at the CRUK Beatson Institute in Glasgow for her postdoctoral work, funded by Marie-Curie and EMBO long-term fellowships.
During her post-doc Julia discovered novel mechanisms driving intestinal regeneration and cancer using both flies and mice. Julia started her independent research group towards the end of 2014 at the Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, funded by a Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship from the Royal Society, a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society and, most recently, a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship. Julia is Professor of Systemic Signaling Biology at the University of Glasgow and Honorary Group Leader at the CRUK Beatson Institute. Her lab studies local and systemic functions of the adult intestine in health and disease.