Federica Lopes

My research focuses on the study of the impact that chemotherapeutic drugs have on the male and female reproductive tissues.

Personal profile

• 2013 – present: Postdoctoral researcher, Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh, UK.
• 2011 – 2013: Research Assistant, Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh, UK.
• 2009 – 2011: Veterinary Laboratory Assistant, Institute Caporale, Teramo, Italy.
• 2007: PhD in Production , Reproduction and Animal Welfare at the University of Sassari, Italy.
• 2003: Degree in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Teramo, Italy.

Research

The extraordinary achievements reached in cancer therapies during the last decades have prolonged life expectancy of patients. For that reason, nowadays, studies need to be devoted for minimising negative side effects of cancer survivors.

Understanding the effect of chemo drugs on the principal cells of the reproductive system, the gametes, is the first step towards the development of strategies for their protection.

Each class of drugs tested so far in our lab has displayed a drug-specific mechanism of action, with male and female gametes also showing different sensitivities to drug exposure.

My aim is to investigate these mechanisms and ultimately to explore protective strategies of fertility in cancer patients.

Funding

• Medical Research Council (MRC)

Collaborators

• Prof Richard Anderson, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Rod Mitchell, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Marie McLaughlin, University of Edinburgh
• Prof Evelyn Telfer, University of Edinburgh
• Prof Kate Hardy, Imperial College London

Recent publications

Morgan S., Lopes F., Gourley C., Anderson RA., Spears N. Cisplatin and doxorubicin induce distinct mechanism of ovarian follicle loss; Imatinib provides selective protection only against cisplatin. PLos One, 2013.

PLos One article

Lopes F., vannoni A., Sestini S., Casciaro A, Carducci A., bartolommei S., Toschi P., Ptak G., Cintorino M., Arcuri F. Sheep (Ovis aries) Macrophage migration inhibitory factor: molecular cloning, characterization, tissue distribution and expression in the ewe reproductive tract and in the placenta. Cytokine, 2011

Cytokine article