Dr Andrew Bell PhD BSc

Dr Andrew Bell

Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences
Lecturer in Cancer and Genomic Sciences
MSc Genomic Medicine Programme Lead

Contact details

Address
Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences
Denis Howell Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Andrew Bell is a Lecturer within the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences in the College of Medicine and Health. He has a longstanding interest in Epstein-Barr virus and its associated diseases.

Andrew is Programme Lead for the MSc in Genomic Medicine, a course designed by Health Education England to offer students a multidisciplinary perspective on genomics and its applications to clinical practice and scientific research.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Biochemistry, University of Birmingham 1990
  • BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry, 1987

Biography

Dr Andrew Bell studied for a PhD in Biosciences at The University of Birmingham where he studied mechanisms of transcriptional regulation in bacteria. After a post-doctoral research position in the laboratory of Professor Steve Busby, he then joined Alan Rickinson’s group at the Cancer Research UK Institute for Cancer Studies at The University of Birmingham in 1993. Together with Alan Rickinson, Martin Rowe and Paul Murray, Andrew studied the biology of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and the pathogenesis of EBV-associated cancers.

In 2018, Andrew became Programme Lead for the MSc in Genomic Medicine, a flagship HEE-funded course aimed at NHS scientists and clinicians who wish to learn more about how advances in genomics can be used to improve patient care.

Teaching

Programme lead for the Master’s in Genomic Medicine

Co-module lead for:

  • Genomics of Cancer Pathology
  • Pharmacogenomics and Stratified Healthcare
  • Genomics of Infectious Diseases
  • Workplace Based Learning
  • Research Project and Literature-based Dissertation

 MSc Clinical Oncology

  • Induction programme
  • Cancer pathology module

BSc Biomedical Sciences

  • Year 1 Fundamentals of life sciences
  • Year 2 Cancer and stratified medicine
  • Year 2 Immunity and infection
  • Year 3 Genes to therapy
  • Year 3 Viruses, society and future medicine 

MBChB

  • Year 2 Cancer: Causes to cures 

BMedSci Clinical Sciences (intercalated)

  • Infection module

Other activities

Leadership roles

  • PGT lead on Involving People in Healthcare Education (IHPE) Management Group
  • Chair of LES/EPS Genetic Manipulation Committee (2011 - present)
  • Member Joint Safety Advisory Committee for Control of Biological Hazards (2013 - present)

Professional societies

  • 2000-present   Member of EBV Association
  • 2012-2016       EBV Association Board Member
  • 2002-present   Member of General Microbiology Society

Examiner/Reviewer activities

  • PhD examiner
  • Programme reviewer
  • Peer reviewer

Publications

Selected publications: 

Kelly GL, Stylianou J, Rasaiyaah J, Wei W, Thomas W, Croom-Carter D, Kohler C, Spang R, Woodman C, Kellam P, Rickinson AB, Bell AI. (2013). Different patterns of Epstein-Barr virus latency in endemic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) lead to distinct variants within the BL-associated gene expression signature. J Virol 87:2882-94.

Rowe, M, Fitzsimmons, L, Bell, AI (2014). Epstein-Barr virus and Burkitt lymphoma. Chin J Cancer 12:609-619 doi: 10.5732/cjc.014.10190.

Burns DM, Tierney R, Shannon-Lowe C, Croudace J, Inman C, Abbotts B, Nagra S, Fox CP, Chaganti S, Craddock C, Moss P, Rickinson AB, Rowe M, Bell AI (2015). Memory B cell reconstitution following allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an EBV-associated transformation event. Blood 126:2665-75. Epub 2015 Oct 8. PMID: 26450987 DOI: 10.1182/blood-2015-08-665000

Jayasooriya S, de Silva TI, Njie-Jobe J, Sanyang C, Leese AM, Bell AI, McAulay KA, Yanchun P, Long HM, Dong T, Whittle HC, Rickinson AB, Rowland-Jones, SL, Hislop AD, Flanagan KL (2015). Early virological and immunological events in asymptomatic Epstein-Barr virus infection in African children. PLoS Pathog 11: e1004746. eCollection 2015 Mar. PMID: 25816224 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004746

Tierney RJ, Nagra J, Rowe M, Bell AI, Rickinson AB (2015). The Epstein-Barr virus BamHI C promoter is not essential for B cell immortalisation in vitro but greatly enhances B cell growth transformation. J Virol 89:2483-93. Epub 2014 Dec 24. PMID: 25540367 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.03300-14

Tierney RJ, Shannon-Lowe C, Fitzsimmons L, Bell AI and Rowe M. Unexpected patterns of Epstein-Barr virus transcription revealed by a high throughput PCR array for absolute quantification of viral mRNA. (2015) Virology 474:117-30. Epub 2014 Nov 15. PMID 25463610 DOI 10.1016/j.virol.2014.10.030

Van den Heuvel D, Jansen MA, Bell AI, Rickinson AB, Joddoe VW, van Dongen JJ, Moll HA, van Zelm MC (2016). Transient reduction in IgA+ and IgG+ memory B cell numbers in young EBV-seropositive children: the Generation R Study. J Leukoc Biol 101: 949-956. PMID: 27821468 DOI: 10.1189/jlb.5VMAB0616-283R

Nicol SM, Sabbah S, Brulois KF, Jung JU, Bell AI, Hislop AD (2016). Primary B lymphocytes infected with KSHV can be expanded in vitro and are recognized by LANA-specific CD4+ T cells. J Virol 90:3849-59. Print 2016 Apr. PMID: 26819313 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02377-15

Abbott RJ, Pachnio A, Pedroza-Pacheco I, Leese AM, Begum J, Long HM, Croom-Carter D, Stacey A, Moss PAH, Hislop AD, Borrow P, Rickinson AB, Bell AI (2017). Asymptomatic primary infection with Epstein-Barr virus: observations on young adult cases. J Virol 91(21). pii: e00382-17. PMID: 28835490 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00382-17

Shannon-Lowe C, Rickinson AB and Bell AI (2017). Epstein-Barr virus-associated lymphomas. Phil Trans Roy Soc B. 372:20160271 doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0271.

Kelly GL, Fitzsimmons L, Boyce A, Wei W, Change C, Croom-Carter D, Tierney R, Herold M, Bell, A, Strasser A, Rowe M (2018). Coordinated repression of BIM and PUMA by Epstein-Barr virus latent genes maintains the survival of Burkitt lymphoma cells. Cell Death Diff 25:241-254. Epub 2017 Sep 29. PMID: 28960205 DOI: 10.1038/cdd.2017.150

Fitzsimmons L, Cartlidge R, Chang C, Sejic N, Galbraith L, Suraweera C, Croom-Carter D, Dewson G, Tierney R, Bell A, Shannon-Lowe C, Herold M, Rickinson A, Colman M, Huang D, Strasser A, Kvansakul M, Rowe M and Kelly G (2019). EBV BCL-2 homologue BHRF1 drives chemoresistance and lymphomagenesis by inhibiting multiple cellular pro-apoptotic proteins Cell Death Differ 27, 1554–1568. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41418-019-0435-1

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