Biography
Kirsty Ferguson undertook her undergraduate and Masters studies in Natural Sciences at University of Cambridge. She completed her PhD at the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, in the lab of Prof Steve Pollard. Her PhD focused on neurodevelopment transcription factors driving cancer stem cells in glioblastoma, an aggressive adult brain cancer. She is now a Research Associate in Prof Anna Philpott’s group, investigating the mechanisms controlling proliferation and differentiation in the paediatric cancer neuroblastoma, with the aim of improving differentiation therapies. In her spare time Kirsty enjoys photography, writing poetry and helping mental health awareness.
Kirsty is the Public Engagement Lab Champion for the Philpott group and volunteers with the CSCI Wellbeing Team.
Publications
Ferguson KM, Blin C, Garcia-Diaz C, Bulstrode H, Bressan RB, McCarten K, Pollard SM (2022). Elevated FOXG1 supports exit from quiescence in neural stem cells through FoxO6. bioRxiv 2022.06.30.498283
Bulstrode H, Johnstone E, Marques-Torrejon MA, Ferguson KM, Bressan RB, Blin C, Grant V, Gogolok S, Gangoso E, Gagrica S, Ender C, Fotaki V, Sproul D, Bertone P, Pollard SM. (2017) Elevated FOXG1 and SOX2 in glioblastoma enforces neural stem cell identity through transcriptional control of cell cycle and epigenetic regulators. Genes and Development, 31(8):757-773. doi: 10.1101/gad.293027.116
Bressan RB, Southgate B, Ferguson KM, Blin C, Grant V, Alfazema N, Wills J, Marques-Torrejon MA, Morrison G, Robertson F, Williams C, Bradley L, von Kriegsheim A, Anderson RA, Tomlinson S, Pollard SM. (2021) Regional identity of human neural stem cells determines oncogenic responses to histone H3.3 mutants. Cell Stem Cell, 28(5): 877-893. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2021.01.016
Gangoso E , Southgate B , Bradley L , Rus S, Galvez Cancino F, McGivern N, Kapourani CA, Byron A, Ferguson KM, Alfazema N, Morrison G, Grant V, Blin C, Güç E, Sou I, Marques MA, Conde L, Herrero J, Brandner S, Brennan P, Bertone P, Pollard JW, Quezada S, Sproul D, Frame M, Serrels A, Pollard SM. (2021) Glioblastoma stem cells hijack myeloid-affiliated transcription factors via epigenetic immunoediting to elicit immune-evasion. Cell, 184(9): 2454- 2470. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.023
