Dr Vicki E. Smith PhD

Vicki Smith

Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research
Senior Lecturer 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 a Senior Lecturer 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.

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 Lecturer 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

Read, M, Brookes, K, Thornton, C, Fletcher, A, Nieto, H, Alshahrani, M, Khan, R, Borges de Souza, P, Zha, L, Webster, J, Alderwick, L, Campbell, M, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2021, 'Targeting non-canonical pathways as a strategy to modulate the sodium iodide symporter', Cell Chemical Biology, vol. 2021, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2021.07.016

Fletcher, A, Read, M, Thornton, C, Larner, D, Poole, V, Brookes, K, Nieto, H, Alshahrani, M, Thompson, R, Lavery, G, Landa, I, Fagin, JA, Campbell, MJ, Boelaert, K, Turnell, A, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2020, 'Targeting novel sodium iodide symporter interactors ADP-ribosylation factor 4 and valosin-containing protein enhances radioiodine uptake', Cancer Research, vol. 80, no. 1, pp. 102–115. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-19-1957

Thompson, RJ, Fletcher, A, Brookes, K, Nieto, H, Alshahrani, MM, Mueller, JW, Fine, NHF, Hodson, DJ, Boelaert, K, Read, ML, Smith, VE & McCabe, CJ 2019, 'Dimerization of the sodium/iodide symporter', Thyroid, vol. 29, no. 10, pp. 1485-1498. https://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2019.0034

Alshahrani, M, Fletcher, A, Thornton, C, Brookes, K, Nieto, H, Thompson, R, Read, M, Boelaert, K, McCabe, C & Smith, V 2018, 'Biochemical analysis of radioiodine uptake enhancement in endocrine cancer', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 59, OC2.4. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.59.OC2.4

Abstract

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, 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

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.

Read, M, Brookes, K, Fletcher, A, Thornton, C, Alshahrani, M, Khan, R, Nieto, H, Adcock, H, Webster, J, Cox, L, Alderwick, L, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2020, 'Drug repurposing identifies inhibitors of the proteostasis network to augment radioiodine uptake in combinatorial approaches targeting thyroid cancer', Journal of the Endocrine Society, vol. 4, no. Issue Supplement 1, OR28-03. https://doi.org/10.1210/jendso/bvaa046.2135

Read, M, Brookes, K, Fletcher, A, Thornton, C, Alshahrani, M, Khan, R, Nieto, H, Adcock, H, Webster, J, Cox, L, Alderwick, L, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2020, 'Drug repurposing identifies inhibitors of the proteostasis network to augment radioiodine uptake in combinatorial approaches targeting thyroid cancer', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 70, OC5.4. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.70.OC5.4

Read, M, Brookes, K, Fletcher, A, Thornton, C, Alshahrani, M, Nieto, H, Khan, R, Webster, J, Haggie, P, Verkman, A, Alderwick, L, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2019, 'A high-throughput yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) cell-based screen identifies autophagy modulators to increase the effectiveness of radioiodine therapy', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 65, OC4.1. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.65.OC4.1

Fletcher, A, Thompson, R, Read, M, Turnell, A, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2018, 'Abstract LB-327: Identification of novel sodium iodide symporter (NIS) interactors which modulate iodide uptake', Cancer Research, vol. 78, no. 13 Supplement, pp. LB327-LB327. https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.AM2018-LB-327

Read, M, Modasia, B, Fletcher, A, Thompson, R, Brookes, K, Nieto, H, Campbell, M, Boelaert, K, Turnell, A, Smith, V, Mehanna, H & McCabe, C 2018, 'Oncogenic action of pituitary-tumor transforming gene (PBF) in head and neck cancer is associated with poorer overall survival', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 59, P119. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.59.P119

Read, M, Modasia, B, Fletcher, A, Thompson, R, Baker, K, Boelaert, K, Turnell, A, Smith, V, Mehanna, H & McCabe, C 2018, 'PO-124 PTTG and PBF functionally interact with P53 and predict overall survival in head and neck cancer', ESMO Open, vol. 3, no. Suppl. 2, pp. A69-A69. https://doi.org/10.1136/esmoopen-2018-EACR25.165

Other contribution

Read, ML, Brookes, K, Thornton, CEM, Fletcher, A, Alshahrani, M, Khan, R, Nieto, HR, Souza, PBD, Webster, JRM, Alderwick, LJ, Boelaert, K, Smith, VE & McCabe, CJ 2020, New mechanisms of radioiodide uptake revealed via a novel high throughput drug screening approach in thyroid cancer.. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.21.213967

Preprint

Read, M, Brookes, K, Thornton, C, Fletcher, A, Nieto, H, Alshahrani, M, Khan, R, Borges de Souza, P, Zha, L, Webster, J, Alderwick, L, Campbell, M, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2021 'Targeting non-canonical pathways as a strategy to modulate the NIS symporter' SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3797274

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