Professor Paul Murray PhD, MSc

 

Professor of Molecular Pathology

Contact details

Telephone +44 (0)121 414 4021

Fax +44 (0)121 414 4486

Email p.g.murray@bham.ac.uk

School of Cancer Sciences
College of Medical and Dental Sciences

About

Paul is Professor of Molecular Pathology in the School of Cancer Sciences

Paul has published over 100 research papers in scientific journals, reviews and book chapters in the fields of virology and tumour biology. He has received major grants from Cancer Research UK, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, The Wellcome Trust and the MRC

Qualifications

  • MSc Biomedical Sciences 1990 
  • PhD Oncology 1996

Biography

Paul completed a PhD in 1996 under the supervision of Professor Lawrence Young. He was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship to undertake research at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, working in the laboratories of Professor Richard Ambinder who at the time was pioneering work on the Epstein-Barr virus, a common virus which had, only a few years before, been suggested to be a causative agent in the development of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In 2000 Paul came back to the University of Birmingham taking up a senior lectureship in Pathology and established his own research group. In 2005 Paul moved to the Institute for Cancer Studies as Reader in Molecular Pathology. In 2007, Paul was appointed to the Chair of Molecular Pathology in the School of Cancer Sciences.

Teaching

  • Leader for Molecular pathology modules ( ‘Molecular Pathology of Cancer’, MSc Clinical Oncology; ‘Pathology’ module, BMedSc Clinical Sciences)
  • Contribution of lectures and tutorials to MBChB, BMedSci, MSc Clinical Oncology, MSc Immunity and Infection 
  • Project student supervision (BMedSc, and BMedSci Clinical Sciences (intercalating MBChB), MSc Clinical

Postgraduate supervision

10 PhD students supervised to successful completion.

Currently supervising three students

  • Maizaton Abdullah
  • Zumla Cader
  • Katerina Vrzalikova

Research

Research in the Murray Group is mainly focused on the contribution of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to the pathogenesis of lymphomas, but particularly Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Other activities

Journal Editorial Board Membership

2008 – current Member of Editorial Board, Journal of Pathology

Society/Professional Membership

2001-date, British Lymphoma Group
2003-date, UK Childhood Cancer and Leukaemia Group

Publications

Vrzalikova K, Vockerodt M, Leonard S, Bell A, Wei W, Schrader A, Wright KL, Kube D, Rowe M, Woodman CB, Murray PG. Down-regulation of BLIMP1α by the EBV oncogene LMP1 disrupts the plasma cell differentiation program and prevents viral replication in B cells: implications for the pathogenesis of EBV-associated B cell lymphomas. Blood in press 2011. 

Anderton JA, Bose S, Vockerodt M, Vrzalikova K, Wei W, Kuo M, Helin K, Christensen J, Rowe M, Murray PG, Woodman CB. The H3K27me3 demethylase, KDM6B, is induced by Epstein-Barr virus and over-expressed in Hodgkin’s lymphoma Oncogene, 2011, Jan 17. [Epub ahead of print] 

Murray PG, Fan Y, Davies G, Ying J, Geng H, Ng KM, Li H, Gao Z, Kapatai G, Bose S, Anderton JA, Reynolds GM, Ito A, Woodman CBJ, Marafioti T, Ambinder RF, Tao Q. Epigenetic silencing of a proapoptotic cell adhesion molecule-the immunoglobulin superfamily member IGSF4 by promoter CpG methylation protects Hodgkin’s lymphoma cells from apoptosis. Am J Pathol 2010; 177: 1480-90. 

Constandinou-Williams M, Collins SI, Roberts S, Young LS, Woodman CBJ, Murray PG. Is human papillomavirus viral load a clinically useful predictive marker: a longitudinal study. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarker Prev 2010; 19: 832-7. 

Birgersdotter A, Baumforth KRN, Wei W, Murray PG, Sjoberg J, Bjorkholm M, Porwit A, Ernberg I. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is expressed in malignant cells of Hodgkin’s lymphoma but not in other mature B-cell lymphomas. Am J Clin Pathol 2010; 133: 271-80. 

Freimanis G, Hooley P, Ejtehadi HD, Ali HA, Veitch A, Rylance PB, Alawi A, Axford J, Nevill A, Murray PG, Nelson PN. A role for human endogenous retrovirus-K (HML-2) in rheumatoid arthritis: investigating mechanisms of pathogenesis. Clin Exp Immunol 2010; 160: 340-7. 

Birgersdotter A, Baumforth KRN, Wei W, Sjoberg J, Murray PG, Porwit A, Bjorkholm M, Ernberg I. Inflammation and tissue repair markers distinguish the nodular sclerosis and mixed cellularity subtypes of classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Br J Cancer 2009; 101: 1393-401. 

Collins SI, Constandinou-Williams CM, Wen K, Young LS, Roberts S, Murray PG, Woodman CBJ. Disruption of the E2 gene is a common and early event in the natural history of cervical human papillomavirus infection: a longitudinal cohort study. Cancer Res, 2009; 69: 3828-32.

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