Distinguished Speaker Seminar 9th April 2019

Professor Elisabetta Dejana   

Professor of General Pathology, Department of Biosciences, University of Milan / Professor at Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Sweden

Professor Elisabetta Dejana is currently chief of the Angiogenesis Program, Institute of Molecular Oncology, Italian Foundation for Cancer Research (FIRC) in Milan, Italy and professor of Pathology at the Department of Immunology, genetics and Patology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.  She has participated on numerous scientific advisory boards, and her research contributions, reported in more than 300 scientific publications, have earned Professor Dejana awards across Europe and in the US. Professor Dejana has achieved international recognition for elucidation of molecular mechanisms by which cells of the vascular endothelium interact with each other, with cells of the immune system, and with the extracellular matrix. A major contribution from Professor Dejana’s laboratory has been characterization of the molecular architecture of endothelial cell-cell junctions. Her seminal 1992 paper in the Journal of Cell Biology reported the discovery of VE-cadherin as a key protein component of cell-to-cell adherence junctions. Subsequent research has revealed that formation of VE-cadherin/Β-catenin complexes not only shapes endothelial junctions but also allows transfer of intracellular signals that mediate such important functions such as endothelial tubulogenesis, establishment of polarity, contact inhibition of cell proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis.

Host: Dr Paul Frankel

UCL Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine

Tuesday 9th April 2019 at 2pm

210, 2nd floor Seminar, Rayne Building, 5 University Street, WC1E

Please contact: s.oliver-styller@ucl.ac.uk for all enquires

Light refreshments will be available, therefore the kitchen area will be closed from 1:45 to 3pm