Dr Vicki E. Smith PhD

Vicki Smith

Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research
Associate Professor in Molecular Endocrinology, BBSRC New Investigator Award Holder

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 415 8819
Fax
+44 (0)121 415 8712
Email
v.e.smith@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, 2nd Floor IBR
Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research
College of Medical and Dental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Vicki is an Associate Professor in Molecular Endocrinology in the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research at the University of Birmingham. Her current research interests are focussed on enhancing radioiodine uptake in thyroid and breast cancer and investigating the molecular pathogenesis of thyroid disease, particularly the signalling pathways that contribute to thyroid cancer growth and progression.

Vicki has authored a number of publications and has presented data at both national and international conferences on Endocrinology and Thyroidology. Her research has attracted funding from the MRC, Wellcome Trust, British Thyroid Foundation and Society for Endocrinology, and she has won a number of awards including the Society for Endocrinology Young Endocrinologist Prize Lecture and the Journal of Molecular Endocrinology Prize.

 Society for Endocrinology logo

 

 

 UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council logo

Qualifications

  • PhD in Medicine, University of Birmingham (2008)
  • BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry, University of Leicester (2000)

Biography

Vicki qualified with a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Leicester in 2000. She then spent over four years working for a biopharmaceutical company in Oxfordshire, identifying potential drug targets using genetic analyses of large patient cohorts.

Vicki subsequently moved to Birmingham to study for a PhD in Medicine, under the supervision of Professors Chris McCabe and Jayne Franklyn, which she completed in 2008. She continued to work in the Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism as an MRC Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with a brief visit to the lab of Professor James Fagin at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Vicki has a growing list of peer-reviewed research papers and reviews, and has presented her data at conferences both nationally and internationally. Her research has attracted a number of major grants and awards.

Following her recent appointment as Associate Professor in the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research Vicki is currently establishing her independent research group. She has an active teaching role within the University and sits on the Postdoctoral / Early Researcher Career Development And Training (PERCAT) committee. 

Externally, Vicki is an active member of the Society for Endocrinology and currently sits on the Science Committee.

Teaching

Postgraduate supervision

Vicki supervises PhD students on the following projects:

  • A New Therapeutic Target to Facilitate Radioiodide Treatment of Breast Cancer 
  • The Regulation of Sodium Iodide Symporter (NIS) Trafficking and Targeting in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer
Novel Functional Binding Partners of the Sodium Iodide Symporter

Research

Vicki’s research interests are centred on thyroid biology and the molecular pathogenesis of thyroid disease. She is particularly interested in the signalling pathways that mediate normal thyroid growth and function and are dysregulated in thyroid cancer and goitre. With a longstanding interest in investigating the repression of the iodide transporter NIS in thyroid cancer Vicki has recently identified a possible new therapeutic strategy to improve critical radioiodine treatment in thyroid tumours. She is currently interested in exploring the possibility of applying these strategies to induce radioiodine uptake in other tumour types such as breast cancer. These investigations include in vitro culture systems, animal models and human tissue to combine fundamental and translational research.

Other activities

Commitee Membership

  • Society for Endocrinology Science Committee member
  • Society for Endocrinology Programme Organising Committee member
  • British Thyroid Association Executive Committee

Society Membership

  • Society for Endocrinology                              
  • British Thyroid Association                             
  • American Thyroid Association           
  • European Society for Endocrinology              
  • British Thyroid Foundation

Peer Review

  • Endocrine-Related Cancer [I.F. = 5.3]           
  • Journal of Molecular Endocrinology [I.F. = 3.6]
  • Journal of Endocrinological Investigation [I.F. = 1.5] 
  • Oncogene [I.F. = 8.6] 
  • Journal of Endocrinology [I.F. = 3.9]  
  • Endocrine Connections
  • Oncotarget [I.F. = 6.4]

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Nieto, H, Thornton, C, Brookes, K, Nobre De Menezes, A, Fletcher, A, Alshahrani, M, Kocbiyik, M, Sharma, N, Boelaert, K, Cazier, J-B, Mehanna, H, Smith, V, Read, M & McCabe, C 2021, 'Recurrence of papillary thyroid cancer: a systematic appraisal of risk factors', Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 107, no. 5, pp. 1392–1406. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab836

Abstract

Brookes, K, Zha, L, Kim, J, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Smith, V, Read, M & McCabe, C 2023, 'A critical role for copper in enhanced radioiodide uptake in thyroid cancer cells', Cancer Research, vol. 83, no. 7_Supplement, 5053. https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.AM2023-5053

Brookes, K, Zha, L, Kim, J, Small, B, Kocbiyik, M, Manivannan, S, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Nieto, H, Smith, V, Read, M & McCabe, C 2023, 'Copper-based therapeutics increase sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) transcription and enhance radioiodide uptake in thyroid cancer cells', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 90, OC11.1. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.90.OC11.1

Read, M, Brookes, K, Zha, L, Thornton, C, Kim, J, Fletcher, A, Firth, G, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Nieto, H, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2022, 'Dissecting endocytic mechanisms reveals new molecular targets to enhance sodium iodide symporter activity with clinical relevance to radioiodide therapy', Thyroid, vol. 32, no. S1, OC29, pp. A92-A92. https://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2022.29137.abstracts

Zha, L, Brookes, K, Thornton, C, Fletcher, A, Kim, J, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Nieto, H, Smith, V, Read, M & McCabe, C 2022, 'Enhancing radioiodide uptake by addressing the mechanism of sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) endocytosis', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 86, OC6.2. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.86.OC6.2

Manivannan, S, Alshahrani, M, Thornton, C, Raja, S, Kocbiyik, M, Zha, L, Brookes, K, Nieto, H, Read, M, McCabe, C & Smith, V 2022, 'Promotion of thyroid cancer cell migration and invasion by the proto-oncogene PBF is mediated by FGD1 and N-WASP', Thyroid, vol. 32, no. S1, OC27, pp. A91-A91. https://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2022.29137.abstracts

Read, M, Brookes, K, Zha, L, Moolla, M, Kocbiyik, M, Manivannan, S, Hoare, R, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Nieto, H, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2022, 'Repurposing disulfiram as a therapeutic agent to enhance sodium iodide symporter activity in radioiodide therapy', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 86, OC2.6. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.86.OC2.6

Brookes, K, Zha, L, Moolla, M, Kim, J, Kocbiyik, M, Manivannan, S, Nieto, H, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Smith, V, Read, M & McCabe, C 2022, 'Repurposing of disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC)-metal complexes to enhance sodium iodide symporter function in radioiodide therapy', Thyroid, vol. 32, no. S1, OC40, pp. A96-A97. https://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2022.29137.abstracts

Thornton, C, Brookes, K, Fletcher, A, Nieto, H, Zha, L, Kocbiyik, M, Read, M, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2021, 'AP-2 and moesin regulate the internalisation of the sodium-iodide symporter and affect I125 Uptake in thyroid cancer cells', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 77, OC6.4. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.77.OC6.4

Read, M, Brookes, K, Thornton, C, Nieto, H, Fletcher, A, Borges de Souza, P, Alshahrani, M, Zha, L, Webster, J, Alderwick, L, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2021, 'Abstract PO-006: Exploiting non-canonical pathways of NIS regulation to enhance radioiodide uptake and identify predictive markers of recurrence in thyroid cancer', Clinical Cancer Research, vol. 27, no. 8 Supplement, PO-006. https://doi.org/10.1158/1557-3265.RADSCI21-PO-006

Read, M, Brookes, K, Thornton, C, Nieto, H, Zha, L, Fletcher, A, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2021, 'An emerging role for proteostasis modulators targeting NIS activity to enhance radioiodide therapy in thyroid cancer', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 77, OC2.2. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.77.OC2.2

Read, M, Brookes, K, Thornton, C, Nieto, H, Fletcher, A, Zha, L, Alderwick, L, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2021, 'Exploiting non-canonical pathways of NIS regulation to enhance radioiodide uptake and identify predictive markers of thyroid cancer recurrence', Nuclear Medicine Communications, vol. 42, no. 5. https://doi.org/10.1097/MNM.0000000000001180

Kocbiyik, M, Alshahrani, M, Poole, V, Jeyanathan, S, Thornton, C, Zha, L, Brookes, K, Nieto, H, Read, M, McCabe, C & Smith, V 2021, 'PBF phosphorylation regulates cell motility of thyroid and breast cancer cells', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 77, OC2.4. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.77.OC2.4

Read, M, Brookes, K, Thornton, C, Nieto, H, Fletcher, A, Zha, L, Alderwick, L, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2021, 'Targeting non-canonical pathways as a strategy to modulate radioiodide uptake in thyroid cancer', 27TH CONGRESS OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH, 9/06/21 - 12/06/21.

Preprint

Read, M, Brookes, K, Zha, L, Manivannan, S, Kim, J, Kocbiyik, M, Fletcher, A, Gorvin, CM, Firth, G, Fruhwirth, G, Nicola, J, Jhiang, S, Ringel, M, Campbell, M, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Boelaert, K, Nieto, H, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2023 'Dissecting endocytic mechanisms reveals new molecular targets to enhance sodium iodide symporter activity with clinical relevance to radioiodide therapy' bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.22.541733

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