Walid Khaled

Biography

I read for my undergraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh followed by a Masters degree at Imperial College, London working with Prof. Eric Lam on the PI3K pathway and cell cycle regulation (2001-2002). I did my PhD training with Prof. Christine Watson, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge where I focused on the role of Stat6 in mammary gland development (2002-2007). After my PhD, I was awarded a junior research fellowship at King's College, Cambridge (2008-2012). The fellowship allowed me to stay for a short post-doc with Prof. Watson during which I identified a novel cell fate regulator Zfp157 (2007-2009). In 2009 I joined the Sanger Institute to work with Dr. Pentao Liu. During my time at Sanger I worked on the connection between cell fate regulation and breast cancer development particularly focusing on the transcription regulator BCL11A. In October 2013, I was appointed as a University Lecturer and group leader at the Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge. In May 2014 I was awarded a CRUK Career Establishment Award to investigate the cellular and molecular drivers of breast cancer heterogeneity with a particular focus on the development of novel therapies for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). I also have a collaboration with Dr. Ewan St John Smith (Department of Pharmacology) and Dr. Kosuke Yusa (Sanger Institute) to identify tumour suppressor genes in the naked mole-rat.

Research Interest

TNBC, Cancer biology, Cancer therapeutics, Proteomics, Genetic screens.