Dr. Mohamed Bentires-Alj, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland

Host: Srikar Nagelli (srikar.nagelli@utu.fi)

Dr. Mohamed Bentires-Alj is a professor of Experimental Surgical Oncology at the Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland. He is an accomplished breast development and cancer researcher with several notable publications, awards and recognitions. His research group (https://bentireslab.org/) focusses on the mechanisms regulating normal and neoplastic breast stem cells, metastasis, and resistance. His group’s interdisciplinary projects seek to elucidate the integrated effects of signaling pathways and epigenetics on breast cell fate and tumor heterogeneity, and to leverage this mechanistic understanding into therapy. He is the founder and president of the European Network for Breast Development and Cancer (ENBDC, www.enbdc.org) that fosters global interactions between labs in these areas. He received ERC advanced grant (2016) and AACR Outstanding Investigator in Breast Cancer Research Award (2015).

Selected Publications

Britschgi A, Duss S, Kim S, Couto JP, Brinkhaus H, Koren S, De Silva D, Mertz KD, Kaup D, Varga Z, Voshol H, Vissieres A, Leroy C, Roloff T, Stadler MB, Scheel CH, Miraglia LJ, Orth AP, Bonamy GM, Reddy VA, Bentires-Alj M. (2017). The Hippo kinases LATS1 and 2 control human breast cell fate via crosstalk with ERα. Nature 541:541-545.

Koren S, Reavie L, Couto JP, De Silva D, Stadler MB, Roloff T, Britschgi A, Eichlisberger T, Kohler H, Aina O, Cardiff RD, Bentires-Alj M. (2015). PIK3CA(H1047R) induces multipotency and multi-lineage mammary tumours. Nature 525:114

Bonapace L, Coissieux MM, Wyckoff J, Mertz KD, Varga Z, Junt T, Bentires-Alj M. (2014). Cessation of CCL2 inhibition accelerates breast cancer metastasis by promoting angiogenesis. Nature 515:130-3.