Dr Marie Boyd
Reader
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Personal statement
Dr Marie Boyd joined SIPBS from the CRUK Beatson Laboratories in July 2009 as a SULSA Reader in Translational Biology. Dr Boyd was awarded a CRUK Senior Cancer Research Fellowship in 2005 to investigate targeted radionuclide therapy for cancer. Targeted radionuclide therapy utilised radiation like a drug, that is molecules which are accrued specifically in tumours have a radioactive molecule attached, and once the radiopharmaceutical is injected into the body and it gets concentrated only in tumour cells. This results in irradiation specifically to tumour cells sparing normal tissues and thus reduction of toxic side effects. Our research group focuses on expansion of this form of radiotherapy to more tumour types by investigation and development of novel radiopharmaceuticals and targets as well as by adopting gene therapy techniques.
The group also investigates the basic biology of cellular response to radiotherapy and have a large area of research into combining radiotherapy with novel and existing drugs and interrogation of cell signaling and mechanisms using traditional and “Omics” based approaches. The Boyd group have already translated some therapeutic schemes into clinical trial and other promising schemes based upon repurposing of existing drugs, are underway with Industrial partners including AstraZeneca.
Since the transfer to Strathclyde, the group has established several cross-disciplinary links within the TIC themes in areas of advanced Sciences and Technologies, Bionanotechnology, and Health Technologies at Strathclyde. These collaborations are formed around the need to establish multidisciplinary approaches to the development of cancer therapy. Our work fosters the marriage of cancer biology and radiobiology with platform technologies such as Laser Plasma Wakefield Accelerators, microfluidics, biogels and the combinations of novel and existing drugs and nanomaterials in the SU pipeline with chemo- and radiotherapy produced by a variety of radiation sources. The group will also be integral to the new TIC building hosting the SCAPA (Scottish centre for applied particle accelerators) facility. This research environment is a resource which is unique to Strathclyde University.
The Group is highly active within the recently established RICAS (Research In Cancer at Strathclyde) initiative, has been highly successful in achieving multi-disciplinary, Industry and clinical linked funding. The breadth of research has also recently expanded by involvement in the SIPBS led multi-university programme in pharmacoepidemiology. With our partners we are interrogating prescribing databases to interrogate questions which may lead to the development of better and more personalised cancer therapeutics. The group is also involved with several drug discovery programmes within and outwith the university and has developed phenotypic assay cascades to aid these programmes.
Dr Boyd's group is highly active in the research, industrial and clinical arena and the lab hosts senior fellows, Post docs, PhD students, research assistants, undergraduate and students from within SIPBS and from other University Departments (Physics, chemistry, EEE). The Boyd group will also host vertically Integrated Studentships (VIPs) within the lab, which are being run in collaboration with Chemistry and EEE and we are becoming partners in the Laser Plasma Accelerator Doctoral training centre spearheaded by the university.
Links:
http://www.strath.ac.uk/impact/turningelectronsintoopportunities/
Prize And Awards
- Winner of Dragons den event at research day 2011 and 2012
- Recipient
- 2011
- NCRI ‚Radiation Research
- Recipient
- 2009
- Invited Trustee and Scientific Advisory Committee of the LH Gray Trust
- Recipient
- 2008
- Secretary of Association for radiation research
- Recipient
- 2006
Publications
- Live chicken egg embryos as an alternative in vivo tumour model for deep surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy
- McCabe Samantha M, Gardiner Hannah, Mullen Calum, Wallace Gregory Q, Shand Neil C, Mullen Alexander B, Horan Linda, Graham Duncan, Faulds Karen, Boyd Marie
- Analyst Vol 149, pp. 3513-3517 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1039/d4an00617h
- Evaluating nanoparticle localisation in glioblastoma multicellular tumour spheroids by surface enhanced Raman scattering
- McCabe Samantha M, Wallace Gregory Q, Sloan-Dennison Sian, Tipping William J, Shand Neil C, Graham Duncan, Boyd Marie, Faulds Karen
- Analyst Vol 148, pp. 3247-3256 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D3AN00751K
- Understanding radiation response and cell cycle variation in brain tumour cells using Raman spectroscopy
- Hill Iona E, Boyd Marie, Milligan Kirsty, Jenkins Cerys A, Sorensen Annette, Jirasek Andrew, Graham Duncan, Faulds Karen
- Analyst Vol 148, pp. 2594-2608 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D3AN00121K
- Comparing trastuzumab-related cardiotoxicity between elderly and younger patients with breast cancer : a prospective cohort study
- Aladwani A, Mullen A, Alrashidi M, Alfarisi O, Alterkait F, Aladwani A, Kumar A, Boyd M, Eldosouky ME
- European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences Vol 25, pp. 7643-7653 (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.26355/eurrev_202112_27611
- Determining the prognostic significance of IKKα in prostate cancer
- Montes Melania, MacKenzie Lewis, McAllister Milly J, Roseweir Antonia, McCall Pamela, Hatziieremia Sophia, Underwood Mark A, Boyd Marie, Paul Andrew, Plevin Robin, MacKay Simon P, Edwards Joanne
- The Prostate Vol 80, pp. 1188-1202 (2020)
- https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.24045
- Plasma metabolomics identifies lipid and amino acid markers of weight loss in patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer
- Miller Janice, Alshehri Ahmed, Ramage Michael I, Stevens Nathan A, Mullen Alexander B, Boyd Marie, Ross James A, Wigmore Stephen J, Watson David G, Skipworth Richard JE
- Cancers Vol 11 (2019)
- https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers11101594
Professional Activities
- The Vale of Leven Academy (VOLA) 2025 Career Session
- Contributor
- 23/1/2025
- Aberdeen Cancer Network (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 1/9/2022
- Gliomodel (External organisation)
- Member
- 1/4/2022
- Management Science (Organisational unit)
- Member
- 2020
- Dusquene University
- Visiting researcher
- 1/2015
- Duquesne University
- Visiting researcher
- 1/2015
Projects
- DTP 2224 University of Strathclyde | McGaff, Amy
- Boyd, Marie (Principal Investigator) Perrie, Yvonne (Co-investigator) McGaff, Amy (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 01-Jan-2028
- Developing Aberdeen's Cancer Research Network
- Spiers, Valerie (Principal Investigator) Kiltie, Anne (Principal Investigator) Gomez-Roman, Natividad (Co-investigator) Boyd, Marie (Co-investigator) Tomlinson, Ian P M (Principal Investigator) Gourley, Charlie (Co-investigator) Machesky, Laura (Co-investigator) Chalmers, Anthony (Principal Investigator) Broche, Lionel (Co-investigator) Stansfield, Ian (Co-investigator)
- The aim of this proposal is to encourage new collaborative research and innovation in these fields, through working with colleagues in the CRUK Scotland Centre based in Edinburgh and Glasgow, broadening the range of cancer research being conducted in Scotland.
- 01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2023
- Moving North, expanding the use of the chick embryo model in cancer research to a multiuser facility at the University of Strathclyde
- Boyd, Marie (Principal Investigator) Mullen, Alexander (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2023
- Preventing the damaging effects of cancer chemotherapy and radiation treatment on human endothelial cells targeting the JNK pathway
- Plevin, Robin (Principal Investigator) Boyd, Marie (Co-investigator) McIntosh, Kathryn (Co-investigator)
- Preventing the damaging effects of cancer chemotherapy and radiation treatment on human endothelial cells targeting the JNK pathway
- 01-Jan-2019 - 31-Jan-2023
- Laser-driven radiation beamlines at SCAPA (EPSRC Capital Equipment Portfolio)
- McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator) Boyd, Marie (Co-investigator) Gray, Ross (Co-investigator) Hidding, Bernhard (Co-investigator) Jaroszynski, Dino (Co-investigator) McArthur, Stephen (Co-investigator) Sheng, Zheng-Ming (Co-investigator)
- We propose to create new capability and capacity for collaborative high power laser-plasma research to underpin the development and application of laser-driven radiation sources, using three new beamlines and experiment stations at the Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators, SCAPA. Each of the beamlines will be configured in a unique way and with a focus on a specific category of laser-plasma interactions and secondary sources, to create a complementary suite of dedicated beamlines. This approach is required to enable the development and optimisation of laser-plasma sources from the realms of scientific investigation to real-world applications. It enables long-term investment in the optimisation and stabilisation of the beams and largely eliminates downtime for rebuilding experiments, thus enabling efficient and effective use of high power laser beam time.
The equipment will support an extensive research portfolio in laser-plasma physics and multidisciplinary applications, with an emphasis on radiation sources and healthcare applications. The unique properties of laser-driven radiation sources make them attractive both as tools for science (e.g. femtosecond X-ray sources for probing the structure of matter) and for applications in a variety of sectors including: healthcare (e.g. imaging and radiotherapy); industry (e.g. penetrative probing and assay) and energy (e.g. testing the integrity of stored nuclear waste). The strategic development of this field requires a balanced programme of dedicated university-scale and leading-edge national laser facilities. The proposed beamlines will complement existing and planned expansion of national facilities at the Central Laser Facility, providing new capability and capacity to enable UK research groups to remain at the forefront of this research area and help promote international collaboration.
The research will be performed collaboratively with groups from across the UK and sustained mainly through collaborative research grants. The new suite of beamlines will promote exchanges between academia and industry, and enable engagement of the UK research community with large international projects, such as the Extreme Light Infrastructure, ELI. It will also provide a unique interdisciplinary training platform for researchers. - 01-Jan-2017 - 28-Jan-2021
- Advancing first-in-class IKKalpha inhibitors to commercialisation and clinical application
- Boyd, Marie (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2020
Contact
Dr
Marie
Boyd
Reader
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Email: marie.boyd@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 2263