Julia Wilson (scientist)

For the rower, see Julia Wilson.

Julia Wilson
Born
Julia Lesley Wilson

Northumberland, England
Alma materNewcastle University
Scientific career
InstitutionsKarolinska Institute
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Breakthrough Breast Cancer
ThesisRenal transplantation : activation of T lymphocytes by allogeneic cells (1995)
Doctoral advisorJohn Kirby[1]
Websitewww.sanger.ac.uk/person/wilson-julia/ Edit this at Wikidata

Julia Lesley Wilson is a British scientist who serves as associate director at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Her research career investigates transplant rejection, cancer and inflammation. She previously worked at the World Cancer Research Fund and Breakthrough Breast Cancer.[2]

Early life and education

Wilson grew up in Northumberland.[2] She became interested in biology whilst at high school, and enjoyed working with the microscopes in the science labs.[2] She studied microbiology as an undergraduate at Newcastle University, and was the first member of her family to attend university.[3] She joined John Kirby's research group as a PhD student where she worked on kidney transplantation and why they were rejected by the immune system.[1]

Research and career

After earning her doctorate, Wilson moved to the Karolinska Institute as a postdoctoral researcher where she worked alongside Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren on transplant rejection.[2][3][4] Whilst Wilson enjoyed working in Sweden, she has said that she initially lost confidence during her time in Stockholm because she was less experienced than her colleagues.[2] Wilson returned to the United Kingdom in 1999 and was appointed a postdoc at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.[2][3] She was mentored by Fran Balkwill and worked on cancer and inflammation. Wilson realised that she did not want pursue an academic career, and ended up applying for various non-academic jobs. She was made scientific programme manager at the World Cancer Research Fund.[2]

After a few years, Wilson joined Breakthrough Breast Cancer, where she worked on research management.[5] During her time at Breakthrough, the charity discovered PARP inhibitors, target cancer drugs that can be used to treat ovarian cancer.[6][7][8] She was selected to take park in a clinical placement course, during which time she shadowed a medical team. The placement was designed to bridge the gap between clinical science and patient care. The placement made her aware of the disconnect between drug discovery and the clinic.[2]

Wilson to joined Wellcome Sanger Institute as associate director in 2014.[2][9]

Selected publications

Her publications include:

  • Multiple actions of the chemokine CXCL12 on epithelial tumor cells in human ovarian cancer[10]
  • Macrophages induce invasiveness of epithelial cancer cells via NF-kappa B and JNK[11]
  • The inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha generates an autocrine tumor-promoting network in epithelial ovarian cancer cells[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Wilson, Julia Lesley (1995). Renal transplantation : activation of T lymphocytes by allogenic cells (PhD thesis). University of Newcastle upon Tyne. OCLC 35217792. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.307827.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Anon (11 February 2022). "Women rising in STEM". sangerinstitute.blog. Wellcome Sanger Institute. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Wilson, Julia - Wellcome Sanger Institute". sanger.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren group - Immune responses to human virus infections and cancer | Karolinska Institutet". ki.se. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Medical heavyweights back Cambridge life science forum | Business Weekly | Technology News | Business news | Cambridge and the East of England". businessweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Women work for breast cancer breakthrough". itv.com. ITV News. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Ground-breaking discovery into the genetic causes of breast cancer | Generations Study". breakthroughgenerations.org.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Ground-breaking discovery into the genetic causes of breast cancer". icr.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Dr Julia Wilson". crukcambridgecentre.org.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  10. ^ Chris J Scotton; Julia L Wilson; Kate Scott; Gordon Stamp; George D Wilbanks; Simon Fricker; Gary Bridger; Fran Balkwill (1 October 2002). "Multiple actions of the chemokine CXCL12 on epithelial tumor cells in human ovarian cancer". Cancer Research. 62 (20): 5930–5938. ISSN 0008-5472. PMID 12384559. Wikidata Q40696855.
  11. ^ Thorsten Hagemann; Julia Wilson; Hagen Kulbe; et al. (1 July 2005). "Macrophages induce invasiveness of epithelial cancer cells via NF-kappa B and JNK". Journal of Immunology. 175 (2): 1197–1205. doi:10.4049/JIMMUNOL.175.2.1197. ISSN 0022-1767. PMID 16002723. Wikidata Q40400391.
  12. ^ Hagen Kulbe; Richard Thompson; Julia L Wilson; et al. (1 January 2007). "The inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha generates an autocrine tumor-promoting network in epithelial ovarian cancer cells". Cancer Research. 67 (2): 585–592. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-2941. ISSN 0008-5472. PMC 2679985. PMID 17234767. Wikidata Q37186494.