Richard Salisbury
CRUK Clinical Research Training Fellow
Research Interests
TET2 is an epigenetic modifier that helps remove methyl tags from DNA and RNA. I study the effects of TET2 loss of function in the pathogenesis of haematological cancer. In particular I am interested in Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (CMML), where 60% of patients have TET2 loss of function mutations (TET2m). Using a multiomic single cell approach to profile CMML patients I have discovered that TET2m CMML haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are primed for myelomonocytic differentiation by epigenetically hacking into the emergency myelopoiesis pathway. This makes patients hypersensitive to cytokine signals, such as M-CSF, released by cells within the bone marrow niche.
My current research aims to uncover the mechanisms linking TET2 loss of function to this aberrant HSPC function in order to identify novel druggable pathways that can be targeted by anti-cancer treatments in CMML.