Prof. Godfrey Grech

Prof. Godfrey Grech

Prof. Godfrey Grech

  B.Sc.,M.Phil.,Ph.D.(Erasmus MC)

Associate Professor

Room 316, 3rd floor
Laboratory of Molecular Oncology
Biomedical Sciences Building
University of Malta
Msida
  +356 2340 3261
Following my doctorate studies at Erasmus Medical Centre, the Netherlands (graduated in 2007, March 7th), I started an academic position at the University of Malta. The doctoral work on the Molecular Control of Leukemia was published in 2 high quality journals (Blazquez-Domingo, Grech, & von Lindern, 2005; Grech, et al., 2008) and presented in International conferences including the American Society of Hematology and the European Haematology Association.
Presently, I am Associate Professor at the Department of Pathology with 11 years' experience coordinating a Master programme and lecturing in the area of Molecular Pathology. In 2010, I set up the Molecular Oncology laboratory. The research team under my headship, was successful and achieved: (1) submission of the patent GB1704536.0, entitled “Novel Biomarkers predicting sensitivity to PP2A activators in Cancer”, (2) submission of the patent P6447GB, to protect the optimised technology and molecular classifiers of Breast Cancer, (3) publications in high quality, peer-reviewed journals, including 7 as first author or corresponding author, 2 first author reviews, 3 first author book chapters and 25 as contributing author, (4) presentation of our findings at various prestigious conferences with more than 90 conference proceedings, and (5) international grant AWARD from Luminex Corporation to publish a video method article entitled “Optimisation of a multiplex RNA-based Expression Assay using Breast Cancer archival material” in the Journal of Visualised Experiments (JoVE).
Personal achievements include, (1) co-editor of the book entitled, “Preventive and Predictive Genetics: Towards Personalised Medicine” published in 2015, (2) invited by Thermo Fisher Scientific to deliver the webinar entitled, “The power of multiplexing and applications of the QuantiGene Plex Assay in oncology research and diagnostics”, webcasted Nov 07, 2017, and (3) invited by Luminex corporation to present the innovative assays at xMAP connect meetings in Amsterdam, Beijing and Shanghai. I contribute to international scientific committees including the International Scientific Council of the European Group for Molecular Pathology (EMP); member of the Pharmacogenomics Working Group of the Global Genomic Medicine Consortium (G2MC); and the European Association for Predictive, Preventive & Personalised medicine (EPMA).
  • Molecular Oncology
  • Biomarker Research
  • Cancer Diagnostic Research
  • Molecular Pathology
  • Erythropoiesis

Baldacchino, S., Wastall, L.M., Saliba, C., Hughes, T.A., Scerri, C., Berwick, A., Speirs, V., Hanby, A.M. & Grech, G. 2017, "CIP2A expression predicts recurrences of tamoxifen-treated breast cancer", Tumor Biology, vol. 39, no. 10.

Drago-Ferrante, R., Pentimalli, F., Carlisi, D., Blasio, A.d., Saliba, C., Baldacchino, S., Degaetano, J., Debono, J., Caruana-Dingli, G., Grech, G., Scerri, C.A., Tesoriere, G., Giordano, A., Vento, R. & Fiore, R.d. 2017, Suppressive role exerted by microRNA-29b-1-5p in triple negative breast cancer through SPIN1 regulation, Impact Journals.

Briffa, R. & Grech, G. 2016, Molecular classification of colorectal cancer, Malta College of Pharmacy Practice.

Golubnitschaja, O., Debald, M., Kuhn, W., Yeghiazaryan, K., Bubnov, R.V., Goncharenko, V.M., Lushchyk, U., Grech, G. & Konieczka, K. 2016, Flammer syndrome and potential formation of pre-metastatic niches : a multi-centred study on phenotyping, patient stratification, prediction and potential prevention of aggressive breast cancer and metastatic disease, Springer.

Golubnitschaja, O., Debald, M., Yeghiazaryan, K., Kuhn, W., Pe?ta, M., Costigliola, V. & Grech, G. 2016, "Breast cancer epidemic in the early twenty-first century: evaluation of risk factors, cumulative questionnaires and recommendations for preventive measures", Tumor Biology, vol. 37, no. 10, pp. 12941-12957.

Grech, G., Baldacchino, S., Saliba, C., Grixti, M., Gauci, R., Petroni, V., Fenech, A. & Scerri, C. 2016, "Deregulation of the protein phosphatase 2A, PP2A in cancer: complexity and therapeutic options", Tumor Biology, vol. 37, no. 9, pp. 11691-11700.

Grech, G., Baldacchino, S., Saliba, C., Sacco, K., Yee, B. & Scerri, C. 2016, Molecular classification of breast cancer patients using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded derived RNA samples, OMICS International.

Grech, G. & Grossman, I. 2015, Preventive and predictive genetics : towards personalised medicine, Springer.

Grech, G., Zhan, X., Yoo, B.C., Bubnov, R., Hagan, S., Danesi, R., Vittadini, G. & Desiderio, D.M. 2015, "EPMA position paper in cancer: current overview and future perspectives.(Position article and guidelines)", The EPMA Journal, vol. 6, pp. 9.

Azzopardi, N., Sacco, K. & Grech, G. 2014, The influence of innate and adaptive immunity on Crohn's disease severity, OMICS International.

Baldacchino, S., Saliba, C., Petroni, V., Fenech, A.G., Borg, N. & Grech, G. 2014, "Deregulation of the phosphatase, PP2A is a common event in breast cancer, predicting sensitivity to FTY720.(Research)", The EPMA Journal, vol. 5, pp. 3.

Fenech, A.G. & Grech, G. 2014, Pharmacogenetics : the science of predictive clinical pharmacology, Malta Chamber of Scientists.

Fenech, A.G. & Grech, G. 2014, Pharmacogenetics and personalized medicine : does gender have a role?, Malta College of Pharmacy Practice.

Grech, G., Pollacco, J., Portelli, M., Sacco, K., Baldacchino, S., Grixti, J. & Saliba, C. 2014, Expression of different functional isoforms in haematopoiesis, Springer.

Nieradka, A., Ufer, C., Thiadens, K., Grech, G., Horos, R., Coevorden-Hameete, M., Akker, E.v.d., Sofi, S., Kuhn, H. & Lindern, M.v. 2014, Grsf1-induced translation of the SNARE protein use1 is required for expansion of the erythroid compartment, PLOS.

Grech, G. & von Lindern, M. 2012, "The role of translation initiation regulation in haematopoiesis", Comparative and Functional Genomics, vol. 2012, pp. 576540.

Mitropoulou, C., Grech, G., Fenech, A.G., Borg, J.J., Mitropoulos, K., Vozikis, A. & Patrinos, G.P. 2012, Relevance of pharmacogenomics for developing countries in Europe : implementation in the Maltese population, Malta Medical Journal.

Squassina, A., Severino, G., Grech, G., Fenech, A.G., Borg, J.J. & Patrinos, G.P. 2012, Conference scene : Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Days : educational activities on pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine, Future Medicine Ltd.

Borg, J., Papadopoulos, P., Georgitsi, M., Gutierrez, L., Grech, G., Fanis, P., Phylactides, M., Verkerk, A.J., van der Spek, P.J., Scerri, C.A., Cassar, W., Galdies, R., van Ijcken, W., Ozgur, Z., Gillemans, N., Hou, J., Bugeja, M., Grosveld, F.G., von Lindern, M., Felice, A.E., Patrinos, G.P. & Philipsen, S. 2010, "Haploinsufficiency for the erythroid transcription factor KLF1 causes hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin", Nature genetics, vol. 42, no. 9, pp. 801-805.

Grech, G., Blázquez-Domingo, M., Kolbus, A., Bakker, W.J., Müllner, E.,W., Beug, H. & Von Lindern, M. 2008, "Igbp1 is part of a positive feedback loop in stem cell factor-dependent, selective mRNA translation initiation inhibiting erythroid differentiation", Blood, vol. 112, no. 7, pp. 2750.

Grosso, A.R., Gomes, A.Q., Barbosa-Morais, N.L., Caldeira, S., Thorne, N.P., Grech, G., von Lindern, M. & Carmo-Fonseca, M. 2008, "Tissue-specific splicing factor gene expression signatures", Nucleic acids research, vol. 36, no. 15, pp. 4823-4832.

Nieradka, A., Grech, G., Blazquez-Domingo, M., Beug, H. & von Lindern, M. 2007, "Translation of IGBP1 mRNA contributes to the regulation of expansion and differentiation of erythroid progenitors.", Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 162.

Blazquez-Domingo, M., Grech, G. & von Lindern, M. 2005, "Translation initiation factor 4E inhibits differentiation of erythroid progenitors", Molecular and cellular biology, vol. 25, no. 19, pp. 8496-8506.

Mizzi, C., Dalabira, E., Kumuthini, J., Dzimiri, N., Balogh, I., Nazli Ba?ak, Ruwen Böhm, Borg, J., Borgiani, P., Bozina, N., Bruckmueller, H., Burzynska, B., Carracedo, A., Cascorbi, I., Deltas, C., Dolzan, V., Fenech, A., Grech, G., Kasiulevicius, V., ?udevít Káda?i, Vaidutis Ku?inskas, Khusnutdinova, E., Yiannis, L.L., Macek, M., Makukh, H., Mathijssen, R., Mitropoulos, K., Mitropoulou, C., Novelli, G., Papantoni, I., Pavlovic, S., Saglio, G., Setric, J., Stojiljkovic, M., Andrew, P.S., Squassina, A., Torres, M., Turnovec, M., Ron, H.v.S., Voskarides, K., Salma, M.W., Werk, A., Maria, D.Z., Zukic, B., Katsila, T., Michael, M.T., Alison Motsinger-Rief, Howard L Mc, L., Peter J van, D.S. & George, P.P. "A European Spectrum of Pharmacogenomic Biomarkers: Implications for Clinical Pharmacogenomics", PLoS ONE, vol. 11, no. 9, pp. e0162866.

  • ANA5604 - Cell Therapy
  • CPH3700 - Theory and Applications of Molecular Pharmacology
  • MDS1010 - Blood and Body Defence Mechanisms
  • MDS1026 - Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • MDS3104 - Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) in Medical Research
  • MDS4033 - Essential Core Competences
  • PAT3510 - Cell Signalling and Cancer Biology
  • PAT5806 - Research Seminars
  • PAT5823 - Medical Genetics Course (Webcast) 1
  • PAT5953 - Research Methodology
  • PHB5030 - Molecular Biology and Genetics
• OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS
1. Co-editor of Book entitled Preventive and Predictive Genetics: Towards Personalised
Medicine. 2015 edited by Godfrey Grech, Iris Grossman, 06/2015; Springer Publications., ISBN:
ISBN 978-3-319-15343-8
2. Filed patent GB1704536.0, entitled “Novel Biomarkers predicting sensitivity to PP2A
activators in Cancer”
3. Filed patent (MALBD/P64447GB), entitled “Optimisation of a multiplex RNA-
based Expression Assay to molecular classify Breast Cancer patients”
4. Presented Webinar part of the Protein and Cell Analysis Education Series, entitled
“The power of multiplexing and applications of the QuantiGene Plex Assay in oncology research
and diagnostics”, sponsored by Thermo Fisher.
5. https://www.um.edu.mt/newspoint/news/features/2018/01/cuttingedgeresearchbybreastcancerresearchgroup

• COMMISSIONS OF TRUST
2017 Evaluator, H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, European Commission
2014, 2016 Evaluator, Czech Health Research Council, Ministry of Health of the Czech
Republic
2018 Scientific Evaluation, PhD Clinical Physiopathology, University of Pisa, Italy
2016 – Member of Board of Directors, Global Standard 1 (GS1), Healthcare Division
2016 – Director, Biotech Innovations Ltd (spin out company), UM, Malta
2015 – Associate Editor, the EPMA Journal, BMC Springer
2014 – Scientific Advisory Board, European Association of Preventive, Predictive and
Personalised Medicine (EPMA)
2014 – Reviewer, Journals (Plos, Tumour Biology, Oncotarget, Anticancer drugs, EPMA Journal)

• MAJOR COLLABORATIONS
1.Prof Andrew M Hanby & Prof Valerie Spiers, Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology, Faculty
of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, UK
2.Prof Thomas A Hughes, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, UK
3.Prof Carlos Caldas & Dr Alejandra Bruna Cabot, Cancer Research UK, Cambridge University, UK
4.Prof David Harrison, School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, Scotland
5.Dr Markus Templin, Natural and Medical Sciences Institute, University of Tuebingen, Germany
6.Prof Natarajan Muthusamy, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, US

[1-3: Breast Cancer research; 4: Colorectal Cancer Research; 5: Technology; 6: drug
development]

Search for staff

Study at UM

https://www.um.edu.mt/_templates/staffprofiles/