Supervisor Database Search

• physiology and non-communicable disease
• cancer/oncology

• Medicine
• Surgery
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Ophthalmology

• Cardiology
• Cardiac Surgery
• Endocrinology
• Oncology
• Pharmacology
• Vascular Medicine

For the past 12 years, a major focus of Prof Robson's laboratory is the development of novel approaches for sensitizing tumours to therapy using a personalised medicine approach. In particular, she has a major programme of research aimed at the functional characterisation of the FKBPL gene where she demonstrated an extracellular role for FKBPL as a naturally secreted, anti-angiogenic protein and demonstrated that peptides based on the active anti-angiogenic region are potent inhibitors of angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo, resulting in tumour growth inhibition.

Together with Almac Discovery, she has led the development of therapeutic peptide derivatives (AD-01 and ALM201) based on FKBPL's active anti-angiogenic domain which have now entered phase I/II ovarian cancer clinical trials (EudraCT number: 2014-001175-31). Prof Robson is continuing to characterize the role of the endogenous protein using various in vitro and in vivo models where she has demonstrated a possible role for FKBPL in a number of other conditions associated with aberrant angiogenesis.

Over the last 15 years she has attracted significant funding from UK research councils, MRC & BBSRC, and national charities, Cancer Research UK, Breast Cancer Now, Prostate Cancer Charity, HPSS R&D Office, and numerous other cancer charities.

McKeen HD, Byrne C, Jithesh PV, Donley C, Valentine A, Yakkundi A, O'Rourke M, Swanton C, McCarthy HO, Hirst DG, Robson T. (2010) FKBPL regulates estrogen receptor signaling and determines response to endocrine therapy. Cancer Research 70(3):1090-1100

Valentine A, O'Rourke M, Yakkundi A, Worthington J, Hookham M, Bicknell R, McCarthy H, McClelland K, McCallum L, Dyer H, McKeen H, Waugh D, Roberts J, McGregor J, Cotton G, James I, Harrison T, Hirst D, Robson T (2011). FKBPL and peptide derivatives: novel biological agents that inhibit angiogenesis by a CD44-dependent mechanism. Clinical Cancer Research 17(5):1044-56.

McClements L, Yakkundi A, Papaspyropoulos A, Harrison H, Ablett MP, Jithesh PV, McKeen HD, Bennett R, Donley C, Kissenpfennig A, McIntosh S, McCarthy HO, O'Neill E, Clarke RB, Robson T. (2013) Targeting treatment resistant breast cancer stem cells with FKBPL and its peptide derivative, AD-01, via the CD44 pathway. Clin Cancer Res 19(14):3881-93.

Donley C, McClelland K, McKeen HD, Nelson L, Yakkundi A, Jithesh PV, Burrows J, McClements L, Valentine A, Prise KM, McCarthy HO, Robson T. (2014) Identification of RBCK1 as a novel regulator of FKBPL: implications for tumor growth and response to tamoxifen Oncogene. 33(26):3441-50.

Yakkundi A, Bennett R, Hernendez-Negrete I, Delalande J-M, Hanna M, Lyubomska O, Arthur K, McKeen HD, Nelson L, McClements L, McCrudden CM, McCarthy HO, Burns A, Bicknell R, Kissenpfennig A, Robson T. (2015) FKBPL is a critical anti-angiogenic regulator having an essential role in developmental and pathological angiogenesis. Artiosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology ATVBAHA.114.304539 doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.114.304539

Nelson L, McKeen HD, Marshall A, Mulrane L, Starczynski J, Storr SJ, Lanighan F, Byrne C, Arthur K, Hegarty S, Abdunnabi Ali A, Ellis IO, Green AR, Rakha E, Young L, Kunkler I, Thomas J, Jack W, Cameron D, Jirstrom K, Yakkundi A, McClements L, Martin SG, Gallagher W, Dunn J, Bartlett J, O'Connor D, Robson T. (2015) Evaluating the prognostic potential of FKBPL; a novel breast cancer biomarker. Oncotarget 6(14): 12209-12223