Biography - Doctor Abdel Moumen

Name: Doctor Abdel Moumen
Position:Senior lecturer in biomedical sciences
Research centre: Biomedical Sciences
Division: Biomedical Sciences
Room:27-28

Tel:    +44(0)2087255761
email: amoumen@sgul.ac.uk

Research interests

DNA damage response, p53, MDM2, mTOR, regulation of transcription and regulation of the cell cycle in human cells.

Biography

I am interested in the study of the DNA damage response mechanism. It is for this reason, prior to current role at St George’s, University of London as senior lecturer in biomedical sciences, I joined Professor Steve Jackson’s laboratory in University of Cambridge as a research associate. Before this I successfully completed my PhD at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

The main focus of research in my laboratory is to better understand how cells detect DNA damage and signal its presence to the DNA repair, transcription and cell cycle machineries. My work is mainly centered on the role of the p53 pathway in the mechanism of DNA damage response (DDR). I previously identified heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) as a new p53 transcription cofactor, which is activated in response to DNA damage. These findings were published in Cell. Recently my laboratory, in collaboration with Galina Selvanova’s group (Karolinska Institutet-Sweden), has published data in Cancer Cell showing that Mdm2-dependent degradation of hnRNP K is a perquisite step in the p53-mediated apoptosis induced by the newly discovered p53 activator molecule RITA. My laboratory has extensive experience in cell signaling pathways involved in the DNA damage response and in the field of the p53 tumour suppressor biology and p53’s many roles in cell cycle control, apoptosis, DNA damage repair and transcription. The importance of his work is valuated by the obtaining of two competitive research grants from AICR and Wellcome Trust. Finally, in June 2009, I was awarded a Prize for Innovation in Science and Technology by the Government of Morocco.