
Profiles
Dr Natasha Hill
Associate Professor in Biomedical Sciences
School of Biomedical Sciences (Faculty of Health)
Biography
Biography
Associate Professor in Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth
Qualifications
After graduating from Bristol University with a degree in Biochemistry, I completed a PhD on the genetics of Type 1 diabetes with Prof John Todd at The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford. I then moved to the USA to train in cellular immunology in order to investigate the effect of diabetes gene variants on the development of autoimmunity, working with Dr Nora Sarvetnick at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. This work led to an interest in the interaction between inflammation and the target islet tissue, and the potential for target resistance and islet regeneration. I returned to the UK and worked briefly as an independent research fellow at the Blizard Institute in Whitechapel, part of Barts and The London Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry, before obtaining an academic position at Kingston University in 2008. At Kingston I established a successful research group supported by sustained external grant funding, alongside highly effective teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. I was granted Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2015. I also established and led the interdisciplinary Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research Group, and I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015.
In 2021, I joined the School of Biomedical Sciences within the Faculty of Health at Plymouth University, where I teach cell and molecular biology and lead a research group focused primarily on the role of matrix and matricellular proteins as therapeutic targets to treat pancreatic cancer, and in supporting stem cell differentiation/beta cell regeneration to treat diabetes. In collaboration with Dr David Jenkins in the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, I am also working on the development of novel diagnostic biosensor for pancreatic cancer.
Professional membership
Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy
Professional member of Diabetes UK
Member of the British Society for Matrix Biology
Member of the Society for Endocrinology
Professional member of Diabetes UK
Member of the British Society for Matrix Biology
Member of the Society for Endocrinology
Roles on external bodies
I regularly review grants for various funding agencies including Diabetes UK, MRC and BBSRC, and have also been a member of the expert review panel for the Polish National Science Centre.
I review manuscripts for a wide range of journals; recent examples include EBioMedicine, Human Molecular Genetics, Clinical Science, Scientific Reports, World Journal of Gastroenterology.
I am on the editorial board of Current Biomarkers journal.
I review manuscripts for a wide range of journals; recent examples include EBioMedicine, Human Molecular Genetics, Clinical Science, Scientific Reports, World Journal of Gastroenterology.
I am on the editorial board of Current Biomarkers journal.
Publications
Publications
Key publications
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Articles
(2020) 'Modulation of Rab7a-mediated growth factor receptor trafficking inhibits islet beta cell apoptosis and autophagy under conditions of metabolic stress' Scientific Reports 10, (1) , DOI Open access
(2020) 'Fibronectin acts as a molecular switch to determine SPARC function in pancreatic cancer' Cancer Letters 477, 88-96 , DOI
(2019) 'Plasma Free Fatty Acids Metabolic Profile with LC-MS and Appetite-Related Hormones in South Asian and White European Men in Relation to Adiposity, Physical Activity and Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Cross-Sectional Study' Metabolites 9, (4) 71-71 , DOI Open access
(2018) 'A cross-sectional survey investigating women’s information sources, behaviour, expectations, knowledge and level of satisfaction on advice received about diet and supplements before and during pregnancy' BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 18, (1) , DOI Open access
(2016) 'A holistic approach to dissecting SPARC family protein complexity reveals FSTL-1 as an inhibitor of pancreatic cancer cell growth' Scientific Reports 6, (1) , DOI Open access
(2016) 'Embracing the complexity of matricellular proteins: the functional and clinical significance of splice variation' Biomolecular Concepts 7, (2) 117-132 , DOI
(2014) 'Novel Role for Matricellular Proteins in the Regulation of Islet β Cell Survival' Journal of Biological Chemistry 289, (44) 30614-30624 , DOI
(2009) 'Loss of parity between IL-2 and IL-21 in the NOD Idd3 locus' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106, (46) 19438-19443 , DOI
(2009) 'Altered availability of PD-1/PD ligands is associated with the failure to control autoimmunity in NOD mice' Cellular Immunology 258, (2) 161-171 , DOI
(2008) 'The target cell response to cytokines governs the autoreactive T cell repertoire in the pancreas of NOD mice' Diabetologia 52, (2) 299-305 , DOI
(2008) 'Recent acquisitions on the genetic basis of autoimmune disease' Frontiers in Bioscience Volume, (13) 4838-4838 , DOI
(2007) 'The target tissue in autoimmunity – an influential niche' European Journal of Immunology 37, (3) 589-597 , DOI
(2007) 'Resistance of the target islet tissue to autoimmune destruction contributes to genetic susceptibility in Type 1 diabetes' Biology Direct 2, (1) , DOI
(2006) 'Distinct regulation of autoreactive CD4 T cell expansion by interleukin-4 under conditions of lymphopenia' Journal of Leukocyte Biology 81, (3) 757-765 , DOI
(2003) 'Th1 and Th2 Pancreatic Inflammation Differentially Affects Homing of Islet-Reactive CD4 Cells in Nonobese Diabetic Mice' The Journal of Immunology 170, (4) 1649-1658 , DOI
(2002) 'Cytokines: promoters and dampeners of autoimmunity' Current Opinion in Immunology 14, (6) 791-797 , DOI
(2001) 'Statistical Modeling of Interlocus Interactions in a Complex Disease: Rejection of the Multiplicative Model of Epistasis in Type 1 Diabetes' Genetics 158, (1) 357-367 , DOI
(2000) 'NOD Idd5 locus controls insulitis and diabetes and overlaps the orthologous CTLA4/IDDM12 and NRAMP1 loci in humans' Diabetes 49, (10) 1744-1747 , DOI
(2000) 'The NOD Idd9 Genetic Interval Influences the Pathogenicity of Insulitis and Contains Molecular Variants of Cd30, Tnfr2, and Cd137' Immunity 13, (1) 107-115 , DOI
(2000) 'Congenic Mapping of the Type 1 Diabetes Locus,<i>Idd3</i>, to a 780-kb Region of Mouse Chromosome 3: Identification of a Candidate Segment of Ancestral DNA by Haplotype Mapping' Genome Research 10, (4) 446-453 , DOI
(1998) 'Genetic analysis of chromosome 2 in type 1 diabetes: analysis of putative loci IDDM7, IDDM12, and IDDM13 and candidate genes NRAMP1 and IA-2 and the interleukin-1 gene cluster. IMDIAB Group' Diabetes 47, (11) 1797-1799 , DOI
(1998) 'Localization of two insulin-dependent diabetes (Idd) genes to the Idd10 region on mouse Chromosome 3' Mammalian Genome 9, (4) 283-286 , DOI
(1997) 'Congenic mapping of the insulin-dependent diabetes (Idd) gene, Idd10, localizes two genes mediating the Idd10 effect and eliminates the candidate Fcgr1' The Journal of Immunology 159, (4) 1835-1843 , DOI
(1997) 'Mapping of the IDDM Locus <i>Idd3</i> to a 0.35-cM Interval Containing the <i>Interleukin-2</i> Gene' Diabetes 46, (4) 695-700 , DOI
(1995) 'Mapping the diabetes polygene Idd3 on mouse Chromosome 3 by use of novel congenic strains' Mammalian Genome 6, (9) 563-570 , DOI