Biography

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Michalis Agathocleous earned his BA and Ph.D. degrees from Cambridge University, where he studied embryonic retinal development with Professor Bill Harris. He performed postdoctoral work at Cambridge on embryonic cell metabolism as a Research Fellow in Gonville and Caius College. He continued his postdoctoral work at CRI with Professor Sean Morrison on hematopoietic stem cell and leukemia metabolism as a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow. In 2017 Dr. Agathocleous joined the faculty of the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern as an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics and a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar.

The Agathocleous lab studies how metabolites regulate hematopoietic stem cell function, and how the metabolism of cancer cells compares to the metabolism of the normal stem cells that give rise to cancers. The lab has developed new techniques that allow metabolomic analysis of rare cells from tissues. We are using a combination of mouse genetics, metabolomics and stem cell biology approaches to investigate the role of metabolism in stem cells, during cancer initiation and in infection. 

Agathocleous Laboratory

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Education

Undergraduate
University of Cambridge (2003), Medical Sciences
Graduate School
University of Cambridge (2007), Neuroscience

Research Interest

  • Metabolism of hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia cells
  • The role of stem cells in infection

Publications

Featured Publications LegendFeatured Publications

Maternal vitamin C regulates reprogramming of DNA methylation and germline development.
DiTroia SP, Percharde M, Guerquin MJ, Wall E, Collignon E, Ebata KT, Mesh K, Mahesula S, Agathocleous M, Laird DJ, Livera G, Ramalho-Santos M, Nature 2019 09 573 7773 271-275
Metabolic regulation of stem cell function.
Burgess RJ, Agathocleous M, Morrison SJ J. Intern. Med. 2014 Apr
Metabolism in physiological cell proliferation and differentiation.
Agathocleous M, Harris WA Trends Cell Biol. 2013 Oct 23 10 484-92
A directional Wnt/beta-catenin-Sox2-proneural pathway regulates the transition from proliferation to differentiation in the Xenopus retina.
Agathocleous M, Iordanova I, Willardsen MI, Xue XY, Vetter ML, Harris WA, Moore KB Development 2009 Oct 136 19 3289-99
From progenitors to differentiated cells in the vertebrate retina.
Agathocleous M, Harris WA Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 2009 25 45-69

Honors & Awards

  • ASH Faculty Scholar
    (2020-2022)
  • Alex's Lemonade Stand A Award
    (2019-2023)
  • CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research
    (2017-2022)
  • Gonville and Caius College Cambridge Research Fellowship (2007)
  • Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow (2011)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

  • American Association for Cancer Research (2017)
  • International Society for Stem Cell Research (2014)