Dr Amiya Patra
Profiles

Dr Amiya Patra

Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences

Peninsula Medical School (Faculty of Health)

Research

Teaching
Supervision

Qualifications

Ph. D.


Immunology

PGCAP (Academic Teaching)

Fellow, Higher Education Academy (HEA)

Professional membership

International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR)

International Cytokine Society (ICS)
German Society for Immunology (DGFI)
European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)

Teaching interests

·    Academic Teaching (Plenaries as well as small group sessions)

·    Academic Tutor (Yr. 1 BMBS students)

·    Facilitator: Student Selected Component (SSC 1) Yr. 1 BMBS students

·    Facilitator: Student Selected Component (SSC 2), Doctors as Educators (DAE) module, Yr. 2 BMBS students

·    Facilitator: Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) Yr. 1 BMBS students

·    Plenary sessions on Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Yr. 1 BMBS students

·    Evaluation, assessment and feedback to students

·    Module Lead (CST710): MSc Clinical Sciences programme (mostly international students)

·    Evaluation, assessment and feedback to students

 

·    Academic Teaching (Plenary sessions): Anatomy and Physiology to BSc Paramedic students (School of Health Profession)

·    Practical Sessions: Anatomy and Physiology to BSc Paramedic students (School of Health Profession)

·    Setting up questions for Anatomy and Physiology examination: BSc Paramedic students (School of Health Profession)

 

·    Exam Invigilation/Remote Proctoring (online exams for students at various levels in the Medical and Dental schools)

Research interests

Research Interests

  • Molecular and epigenetic mechanisms of lymphocyte and erythrocyte development.
  • Transcriptional regulation of Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) maintenance and pathogenesis of lymphoid and myeloid leukemia.
  • Signaling in the hematopoietic system (cytokines and growth factors).
  • Foxp3+ Treg cells in bone homeostasis and osteoporosis.
  • Cellular and molecular basis of Anemia, Immunodeficiency, autoimmunity and tumorigenesis.
  • NFAT signaling in immunoaging (thymic stroma development and T cell function).
  • Developing cellular therapy against hematological and non-hematological tumors with specific emphasis on Lymphokine Activated Killer (LAK) cells.

Research degrees awarded to supervised students

Research Supervision/Mentoring

Sabrina Giampaolo (PhD student)

Debra Lennox (Research Technician)

Laura Latkova (Placement Student, University of Bath, UK)

Gabriela Wojcik (Research Technician)

Justin Ngai Ho Lun (Placement Student, University of Bath, UK)

Harry Dunlop (Summer Research Student, Imperial College London, UK)

Vinay Bakshi (Summer Research Trainee, University of Plymouth, UK)

Grants & contracts

1. Vandervell Fellowship (2015 - 2020). 

2.  Jose Carreras Leukemia Foundation, Germany (DJCLS), 2015.
3. PostDocPlus Funding, 2014, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.  
4. European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Short-Term Fellowship, 2006.

Key publications

Key publications are highlighted

Journals
Articles
Giampaolo S, Wójcik G, Klein-Hessling S, Serfling E & Patra AK 2018 'B cell development is critically dependent on NFATc1 activity' Cellular and Molecular Immunology , DOI Open access
Giampaolo S, Wójcik G, Klein-Hessling S, Serfling E & Patra AK 2017 'NFAT-mediated defects in erythropoiesis cause anemia in Il2-/- mice' Oncotarget 9, (11) 9632-9644 Author Site , DOI Open access
Klein-Hessling S, Muhammad K, Klein M, Pusch T, Rudolf R, Flöter J, Qureischi M, Beilhack A, Vaeth M & Kummerow C 2017 'NFATc1 controls the cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cells' Nature Communications 8, (1) 0-0 , DOI Open access
Giampaolo S, Wójcik G, Serfling E & Patra AK 2017 'Interleukin-2-regulatory T cell axis critically regulates maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells' Oncotarget , DOI Open access
Alrefai H, Muhammad K, Rudolf R, Pham DAT, Klein-Hessling S, Patra AK, Avots A, Bukur V, Sahin U & Tenzer S 2016 'Correction: Corrigendum: NFATc1 supports imiquimod-induced skin inflammation by suppressing IL-10 synthesis in B cells' Nature Communications 7, (1) , DOI Open access
Patra AK 2016 'A threshold level of NFATc1 activity facilitates thymocyte differentiation and opposes notch-driven leukaemia development' Nature Communications , DOI Open access
Alrefai H, Muhammad K, Rudolf R, Pham DAT, Klein-Hessling S, Patra AK, Avots A, Bukur V, Sahin U & Tenzer S 2016 'NFATc1 supports imiquimod-induced skin inflammation by suppressing IL-10 synthesis in B cells' Nature Communications 7, (1) 0-0 , DOI Open access
Busch R, Murti K, Liu J, Patra AK, Muhammad K, Knobeloch K-P, Lichtinger M, Bonifer C, Wörtge S & Waisman A 2016 'NFATc1 releases BCL6-dependent repression of CCR2 agonist expression in peritoneal macrophages fromSaccharomyces cerevisiaeinfected mice' European Journal of Immunology 46, (3) 634-646 , DOI
Chopra M, Langenhorst D, Beilhack A, Serfling E & Patra AK 2015 'Interleukin-2 critically regulates bone marrow erythropoiesis and prevents anemia development' European Journal of Immunology 45, (12) 3362-3374 , DOI
Muhammad K, Alrefai H, Marienfeld R, Pham DAT, Murti K, Patra AK, Avots A, Bukur V, Sahin U & Kondo E 2014 'NF-κB factors control the induction of NFATc1 in B lymphocytes' European Journal of Immunology 44, (11) 3392-3402 , DOI
Rudolf R, Busch R, Patra AK, Muhammad K, Avots A, Andrau J-C, Klein-Hessling S & Serfling E 2014 'Architecture and Expression of the Nfatc1 Gene in Lymphocytes' Frontiers in Immunology 5, , DOI Open access
Hock M, Vaeth M, Rudolf R, Patra AK, Pham DAT, Muhammad K, Pusch T, Bopp T, Schmitt E & Rost R 2013 'NFATc1 Induction in Peripheral T and B Lymphocytes' The Journal of Immunology 190, (5) 2345-2353 , DOI
Patra AK, Avots A, Zahedi RP, Schüler T, Sickmann A, Bommhardt U & Serfling E 2012 'An alternative NFAT-activation pathway mediated by IL-7 is critical for early thymocyte development' Nature Immunology 14, (2) 127-135 , DOI
Bhattacharyya S, Deb J, Patra AK, Thuy Pham DA, Chen W, Vaeth M, Berberich-Siebelt F, Klein-Hessling S, Lamperti ED & Reifenberg K 2011 'NFATc1 affects mouse splenic B cell function by controlling the calcineurin–NFAT signaling network' Journal of Experimental Medicine 208, (4) 823-839 , DOI Open access
Patra AK, Drewes T, Engelmann S, Chuvpilo S, Kishi H, Hünig T, Serfling E & Bommhardt UH 2006 'PKB Rescues Calcineurin/NFAT-Induced Arrest of Rag Expression and Pre-T Cell Differentiation' The Journal of Immunology 177, (7) 4567-4576 , DOI
Patra AK, Na S-Y & Bommhardt U 2004 'Active Protein Kinase B Regulates TCR Responsiveness by Modulating Cytoplasmic-Nuclear Localization of NFAT and NF-κB Proteins' The Journal of Immunology 172, (8) 4812-4820 , DOI
Patra AK 2003 'Constitutively active protein kinase B enhances Lck and Erk activities and influences thymocyte selection and activation' Journal of Immunology Open access
Conference Papers
Kerstan A, Alrefai H, Muhammad K, Rudolf R, Pham DA, Klein-Hessling S, Patra AK, Avots A, Bukur V & Sahin U 2016 'NFATc1 promotes imiquimod-induced skin inflammation by negatively controlling IL-10 production in B cells' E26-E26
Patra AK, Avots A, Zahedi RP, Schüler T, Sickmann A, Bommhardt U & Serfling E 2013 '196' Elsevier BV 289-289 , DOI

Reports & invited lectures

1.     NFATc1-mediated transcriptional regulation of thymocyte development. 2016. School of Biological and Health Sciences, University of          Plymouth, UK.

2.     Role of the transcription factor NFATc1 in thymocyte development. 2014. Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin,          Germany.

3.     Interleukin-7-mediated NFAT activation is critical for early thymocyte development. 2013. National Institute of Immunology (NII), New          Delhi, India.

Other academic activities

Referee Activity for Journals and Grant Applications

Journals

Blood

Cell Death & Disease

European Journal of Immunology

Oncotarget

Scientific Reports

Molecules

Theranostis

Clinical and Translational Medicine

Cells

International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS)

 

Grant Applications

Medical Research Council (MRC), UK (2018, 2019 & 2020)

Czech Science Foundation, Czech Republic (2017)

French National Research Agency (ANR), France (2020)

Administrative and Management Roles

Fire Marshal, ITSMED, University of Plymouth (2016-2020)

Schools Science Event (2016-2020)

Examiner in PhD Transfer Committee