Since 2015 she has been a full-time College Lecturer, leading a research group that is focused on understanding the roles of non-coding RNAs, RNA-binding proteins, RNA-protein complexes in cancer and other human diseases. Notably her group has identified several long, non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that are differentially expressed in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and ovarian cancer cell lines and patients. Ongoing work is focused on the functional characterisation of DCIS- and ovarian cancer-associated lncRNAs, as well as their development as potential diagnostic and/or prognostic tools. Her other research interests include translational regulation and phase separation of RNA-protein assemblies. Additionally, she is a PhD supervisor on the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science.
At UCC, Dr Dean is director of the MSc in Molecular Cell Biology with Bioinnovation, founding director of the MRes in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and chair of the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology Graduate Studies Committee. She is also co-coordinator of UCC Cell EXPLORERS scientific outreach team, funded by the SFI. In collaboration with the University of California - Davis, Dr Dean directs and teaches a summer abroad program in the biological sciences. Nationally and internationally, she is a member of the Irish and European Associations for Cancer Research, the Biochemical Society and the RNA Society.
Biography
Dr Kellie Dean is a College Lecturer and Principal Investigator in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at University College Cork (UCC). Originally from western Pennsylvania, Kellie graduated with a BSc in Chemistry, minor in Biology, from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA. After completing her PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1999, she then worked as a post-doctoral researcher first at the Center for Molecular Biology (ZMBH), University of Heidelberg, Germany, and later with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Moving to Ireland in 2005, she began lecturing part-time at UCC, teaching biochemistry to Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy students. In 2008, she was appointed Training Coordinator of the Health Research Board-funded, PhD Scholars Programme in Cancer Biology.Since 2015 she has been a full-time College Lecturer, leading a research group that is focused on understanding the roles of non-coding RNAs, RNA-binding proteins, RNA-protein complexes in cancer and other human diseases. Notably her group has identified several long, non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that are differentially expressed in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and ovarian cancer cell lines and patients. Ongoing work is focused on the functional characterisation of DCIS- and ovarian cancer-associated lncRNAs, as well as their development as potential diagnostic and/or prognostic tools. Her other research interests include translational regulation and phase separation of RNA-protein assemblies. Additionally, she is a PhD supervisor on the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science.
At UCC, Dr Dean is director of the MSc in Molecular Cell Biology with Bioinnovation, founding director of the MRes in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and chair of the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology Graduate Studies Committee. She is also co-coordinator of UCC Cell EXPLORERS scientific outreach team, funded by the SFI. In collaboration with the University of California - Davis, Dr Dean directs and teaches a summer abroad program in the biological sciences. Nationally and internationally, she is a member of the Irish and European Associations for Cancer Research, the Biochemical Society and the RNA Society.
Research Interests
Research Grants
| Project | Funding Body | Start Date | End Date | Award | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Research Council; Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship 2017; Shona Cronin; GOIPG/2017/579; "Biochemical characterization of the BC200 long, non-coding RNA:protein complex; discovering its role in breast cancer"; Kellie Dean | Irish Research Council | 01-OCT-17 | 30-NOV-18 | €24,000.00 | |
| Foundation Funded Research | 01-JAN-22 | 31-DEC-25 | €112,000.00 | ||
| KD BC PhD Award | Miscellaneous | 01-OCT-20 | 30-SEP-23 | €42,667.00 | |
| UCC | Miscellaneous | 01-JAN-22 | 31-AUG-25 | €13,930.00 | |
| SFI Supported | Science Foundation of Ireland | 01-JAN-22 | 31-AUG-25 | €93,870.00 | |
| Development of an algorithm using ribosome profiling data to predict micropeptides for cancer-specific antigens (neoantigens) discovery towards cancer immunotherapy vaccines. | Irish Research Council | 01-SEP-21 | 31-AUG-23 | €96,417.00 | |
| SFI 18/CRT/6214 - UCC Supported (Oza Zaheed, Leverage) (X) | Miscellaneous | 01-JAN-21 | 30-AUG-24 | €13,930.00 | |
| SFI 18/CRT/6214 - SFI Supported (Oza Zaheed) (X) | Science Foundation of Ireland | 01-JAN-21 | 31-AUG-24 | €93,870.00 | |
| Student Scholarship 2021 Shaun Hartigan | Irish Funded Research Non Exchequer | 08-JUN-21 | 08-AUG-21 | €2,500.00 | |
| HEACOVID19 | 01-DEC-20 | 30-JUN-21 | €5,832.00 |
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2021) | 'Research Strategies for Low-Survival Cancers' Conway C;Collins DM;McCann A;Dean K; (2021) 'Research Strategies for Low-Survival Cancers'. Cancers, 13 (3) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Exploring Evidence of Non-coding RNA Translation With Trips-Viz and GWIPS-Viz Browsers' Zaheed, O;Kiniry, SJ;Baranov, PV;Dean, K (2021) 'Exploring Evidence of Non-coding RNA Translation With Trips-Viz and GWIPS-Viz Browsers'. Frontiers In Cell And Developmental Biology, 9 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Molecular and cellular characterization of two patient-derived ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) cell lines, ETCC-006 and ETCC-010' Samson, J;Derlipanska, M;Zaheed, O;Dean, K (2021) 'Molecular and cellular characterization of two patient-derived ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) cell lines, ETCC-006 and ETCC-010'. BMC Cancer, 21 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'A bioinformatics approach to identify novel long, non-coding RNAs in breast cancer cell lines from an existing RNA-sequencing dataset' Zaheed O.;Samson J.;Dean K. (2020) 'A bioinformatics approach to identify novel long, non-coding RNAs in breast cancer cell lines from an existing RNA-sequencing dataset'. Non-Coding Rna Research, 5 (2):48-59 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'BC200 (BCYRN1) - The shortest, long, non-coding RNA associated with cancer' Samson J;Cronin S;Dean K; (2018) 'BC200 (BCYRN1) - The shortest, long, non-coding RNA associated with cancer'. Non-Coding Rna Research, 3 (3) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2017) | 'Building Bridges through Science' Lissek, T;Adams, M;Adelman, J;Ahissar, E;Akaaboune, M;Akil, H;al'Absi, M;Arain, F;Arango-Lasprilla, JC;Atasoy, D;Avila, J;Badawi, A;Bading, H;Baig, AM;Baleriola, J;Belmonte, C;Bertocchi, I;Betz, H;Blakemore, C;Blanke, O;Boehm-Sturm, P;Bonhoeffer, T;Bonifazi, P;Brose, N;Campolongo, P;Celikel, T;Chang, CC;Chang, TY;Citri, A;Cline, HT;Cortes, JM;Cullen, K;Dean, K;Delgado-Garcia, JM;Desroches, M;Disterhoft, JF;Dowling, JE;Draguhn, A;El-Khamisy, SF;El Manira, A;Enam, SA;Encinas, JM;Erramuzpe, A;Esteban, JA;Farinas, I;Fischer, E;Fukunaga, I;Gabilondo, I;Ganten, D;Gidon, A;Gomez-Esteban, JC;Greengard, P;Grinevich, V;Gruart, A;Guillemin, R;Hariri, AR;Hassan, B;Hausser, M;Hayashi, Y;Hussain, NK;Jabbar, AA;Jaber, M;Jahn, R;Janahi, EM;Kabbaj, M;Kettenmann, H;Kindt, M;Knafo, S;Kohr, G;Komai, S;Krugers, H;Kuhn, B;Ghazal, NL;Larkum, ME;London, M;Lutz, B;Matute, C;Martinez-Millan, L;Maroun, M;McGaugh, J;Moustafa, AA;Nasim, A;Nave, KA;Neher, E;Nikolich, K;Outeiro, T;Palmer, LM;Penagarikano, O;Perez-Otano, I;Pfaff, DW;Poucet, B;Rahman, AU;Ramos-Cabrer, P;Rashidy-Pour, A;Roberts, RJ;Rodrigues, S;Sanes, JR;Schaefer, AT;Segal, M;Segev, I;Shafqat, S;Siddiqui, NA;Soreq, H;Soriano-Garcia, E;Spanagel, R;Sprengel, R;Stuart, G;Sudhof, TC;Tonnesen, J;Trevino, M;Uthman, BM;Venter, JC;Verkhratsky, A;Weiss, C;Wiesel, TN;Yaksi, E;Yizhar, O;Young, LJ;Young, P;Zawia, NH;Zugaza, JL;Hasan, MT (2017) 'Building Bridges through Science'. Neuron, 96 :730-735 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2016) | 'Systematic analysis of the PTEN 5' leader identifies a major AUU initiated proteoform' Tzani I;Ivanov IP;Andreev DE;Dmitriev RI;Dean KA;Baranov PV;Atkins JF;Loughran G; (2016) 'Systematic analysis of the PTEN 5' leader identifies a major AUU initiated proteoform'. Open Biology, 6 (5) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2002) | 'Translational repressors in Drosophila' Dean KA, Aggarwal AK, Wharton RP; (2002) 'Translational repressors in Drosophila'. Trends In Genetics, 18 (11):572-577 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2001) | 'Signal recognition particle protein 19 is imported into the nucleus by importin 8 (RanBP8) and transportin' Dean KA, von Ahsen O, Görlich D, Fried HM; (2001) 'Signal recognition particle protein 19 is imported into the nucleus by importin 8 (RanBP8) and transportin'. Journal of cell science, 114 (Pt 19):3479-3485 [Details] | |
| (1997) | 'Purification and biochemical characterization of the 19-kDa signal recognition particle RNA-binding protein expressed as a hexahistidine-tagged polypeptide in Escherichia coli' Henry, K. A., Zwieb, C., and Fried, H. M.; (1997) 'Purification and biochemical characterization of the 19-kDa signal recognition particle RNA-binding protein expressed as a hexahistidine-tagged polypeptide in Escherichia coli'. Protein Expression and Purification, (9):15-26 [Details] |
Conference Publications
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (1997) | Nucleic Acids Symposium Series Henry, K. A. and Fried, H. M; (1997) Nuclear localization of signal recognition particle protein SRP19 Nucleic Acids Symposium Series Tool and Target, Research Triangle Park, NC, , pp.160-161 [Details] |
Reviews
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2018) | BC200 (BCYRN1) – The shortest, long, non-coding RNA associated with cancer. Samson J.;Cronin S.;Dean K. (2018) BC200 (BCYRN1) – The shortest, long, non-coding RNA associated with cancer. Reviews [DOI] [Details] |
Professional Activities
Professional Associations
| Association | Function | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Association for Cancer Research | Member | / | |
| Biochemical Society | Member | / | |
| Irish Association for Cancer Research | Member | / | |
| RNA Society | Member | / |
Conference Contributions
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2009) | NAIRTL 3rd Annual Conference, Dean, K.A., O'Connor, R.; (2009) Establishing a learning curriculum: laboratory rotation projects in PhD science education. [Poster Presentation], NAIRTL 3rd Annual Conference, Trinity College Dublin , 11-NOV-09 - 12-NOV-09. [Details] | |
| (2009) | Irish Universities Association Fourth-Level Ireland Annual Conference, Dean, K.A.; (2009) PhD Scholars Programme in Cancer Biology: Procedures, training elements and quality assurance. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Irish Universities Association Fourth-Level Ireland Annual Conference, Trinity College Dublin , 11-NOV-09 - 11-NOV-09. [Details] | |
| (2004) | A genetic screen to identify translational co-repressors for nanos mRNA, Dean, K.A; (2004) A genetic screen to identify translational co-repressors for nanos mRNA. [Oral Presentation], A genetic screen to identify translational co-repressors for nanos mRNA, Duke University , 18-MAY-04 - 18-MAY-04. [Details] | |
| (2004) | RNA 2004, 9th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society,, Dean, K.A; (2004) A genetic screen to identify co-repressors of nanos translation in Drosophila. [Oral Presentation], RNA 2004, 9th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society,, Madison, Wisconsin, USA , 01-JUN-04 - 06-JUN-04. [Details] | |
| (2003) | A genetic screen to identify translational co-repressors for nanos mRNA, Dean, K.A; (2003) A genetic screen to identify translational co-repressors for nanos mRNA. [Oral Presentation], A genetic screen to identify translational co-repressors for nanos mRNA, Duke University , 01-DEC-03 - 01-DEC-03. [Details] | |
| (2001) | The role of Smaug in translational regulation of nanos mRNA, Dean, K.A; (2001) The role of Smaug in translational regulation of nanos mRNA. [Oral Presentation], The role of Smaug in translational regulation of nanos mRNA, Wrightsville Beach, NC , 09-SEP-01 - 09-SEP-01. [Details] | |
| (2001) | 42nd Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Dean, K.A; (2001) The role of Smaug in regulating translation of nanos mRNA. [Oral Presentation], 42nd Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Washington,D.C., USA , 21-MAR-01 - 25-MAR-05. [Details] | |
| (2000) | RNA 2000, 5th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Dean, K.A; (2000) Nuclear import pathways of SRP proteins. [Oral Presentation], RNA 2000, 5th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Madison, Wisconsin, USA , 30-MAY-00 - 04-JUN-00. [Details] | |
| (1999) | RNA 1999, 4th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Dean, K.A; (1999) Nuclear localization of signal recognition particle protein SRP19. [Oral Presentation], RNA 1999, 4th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Edinburgh, Scotland , 23-JUN-99 - 27-JUN-99. [Details] | |
| (1997) | RNA 1997, 2nd Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Dean, K.A; (1997) Nuclear localization of signal recognition particle protein SRP19. [Oral Presentation], RNA 1997, 2nd Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Banff, Alberta, Canada , 27-MAY-97 - 01-JUN-97. [Details] | |
| (1996) | RNA 1996, 1st Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Dean, K.A; (1996) Expression and purification of signal recognition particle protein SRP19. [Oral Presentation], RNA 1996, 1st Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Madison, Wisconsin, USA , 28-MAY-96 - 02-JUN-96. [Details] |
Committees
| Committee | Function | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology Graduate Studies Committee | Chair | / | |
| SEFS Graduate Studies Committee | Member | / |
Employment
| Employer | Position | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| University College Cork | Lecturer and Training Coordinator | 26-SEP-05 / | |
| Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA | Post-Doctoral Research Associate | 15-SEP-00 / 01-MAR-05 | |
| Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie | Post-Doctoral Fellow | 31-MAY-99 / 01-SEP-00 |
Education
| Year | Institution | Qualification | Subject | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA | PHD | Biochemistry | |
| 1992 | Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA | BSC | Chemistry |
Teaching Activities
Recent Postgraduates
| Graduation Year | Student Name | Institution | Degree Type | Thesis Title | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Julia Samson | University College Cork | PHD | Investigating the association between long, non-coding RNAs and ductal carcinoma in situ | |
| 2019 | Shona Cronin | University College Cork | Biochemical characterisation of the BC200 long, non-coding RNA:protein complex: discovering its role in breast cancer | ||
| 2022 | Cian Hurley | University College Cork | Uncovering the translation potential of SNHG5, a long non-coding RNA in colorectal cancer |
Current Postgraduate Students
| Student | Degree Type | |
|---|---|---|
| Derlipanska Magdalina Stanislavova | Doctoral Degree | |
| Fehilly John Denis | Masters Degree by Research |
Research Information
External Collaborators
| Name | Organisation / Institute | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Bálint Mészáros | St Jude Children's Research Hospital | U.S.A. |
Contact details
- Kellie Dean
- K.Dean@ucc.ie
- +353-21-490-3000
- College Lecturer, Principal Investigator and Postgraduate Director
- k.dean@ucc.ie
- Western Gateway Building
Cork
Ireland - 353 (0) 21 420 5421
- 214205421
- 214205421