About
Dr Zo毛 Walters is an Associate Professor in translational epigenomics in the school of Cancer Sciences and is a Module Lead on the MSc Genomics within the Faculty of Medicine at the 黑料社. Zo毛 is a highly experienced molecular biologist whose area of expertise lies primarily in target identification and validation in cancer and developmental disorders. Zo毛 has over 18 years鈥 experience in molecular genetics, developmental biology, and cancer biology. Taking a precision medicine approach, the work in her team focuses on target validation, single agent and combination testing of epigenetic therapies, 2D and 3D pre-clinical models, biomarker identification and validation, determining mechanism of action (targets and drugs), factors affecting therapy resistance/relapse and the role of cancer stem cells.
You can update this in . Select 鈥楨dit profile鈥. Under the heading and then 鈥楥urriculum and research description鈥, select 鈥楢dd profile information鈥. In the dropdown menu, select - 鈥楢bout鈥.
Write about yourself in the third person. Aim for 100 to 150 words covering the main points about who you are and what you currently do. Clear, simple language is best. You can include specialist or technical terms.
You鈥檒l be able to add details about your research, publications, career and academic history to other sections of your staff profile.
Research
Research interests
- Target Prioritisation and Validation
- Epigenetics and genomics
- 颁补苍肠别谤听
- Developmental Disorders
Current research
Cancer
Differentiation is the process by which pluripotent (unspecialised) cells stop proliferating and become mature cells with characteristics specific to a particular lineage. Cancer cells are thought to lack the ability to be able to fully differentiation into their mature cell fate and as such remain undifferentiated and continue to proliferate uncontrollably. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as histone methylation, have been shown to control the process of differentiation. These marks and the enzymes that regulate them have been shown to be aberrant in a number of malignancies. My lab is investigating the role of a number of histone modifying enzymes in maintaining the undifferentiated state of paediatric cancers including neuroblastomas and soft tissue sarcomas. My lab is also working alongside Prof Tim Underwood鈥檚 lab to identify targetable genetic aberrations in oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) including epigenetic targets, for the treatment of these cancers. We are interested in how these enzymes can be exploited therapeutically, both as single agents and in combination with other therapies, to force cancer cells to differentiate to a more benign state.
Rare Disease
Through internal collaborations our team is investigating the potential for using epigenetic and other targeted therapies by a precision medicine approach for the treatment of rare diseases.
Projects
Evaluating the efficacy of Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2) inhibitors in combination with anti-GD2/isotretinoin for the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma.
Utilising sarcoma omic information to identify disease gene networks and associated novel therapies for patients.
Investigating the therapeutic efficacy of EZH2 inhibitors for the treatment of diseases with pathogenic histone modifying enzyme mutations.
Investigating the efficacy of combination epigenetic and chemotherapies for the treatment of oesophageal adenocarcinoma.
Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2) as a therapeutic Target in Rhabdomyosarcomas.
Combining epigenetic and differentiation therapy for the treatment of sarcomas and paediatric cancers.
Understanding the role of intratumoral heterogeneity to treatment resistance.
You can update the information for this section in .
Research groups
Any research groups you belong to will automatically appear on your profile. Speak to your line manager if these are incorrect. Please do not raise a ticket in Ask HR.
Research interests
Add up to 5 research interests. The first 3 will appear in your staff profile next to your name. The full list will appear on your research page. Keep these brief and focus on the keywords people may use when searching for your work. Use a different line for each one.
In , select 鈥楨dit profile鈥. Under the heading 'Curriculum and research description', select 'Add profile information'. In the dropdown menu, select 'Research interests: use separate lines'.
Current research
Update this in . Select 鈥楨dit profile鈥 and then 鈥楥urriculum and research description - Current research鈥.
Describe your current research in 100 to 200 words. Write in the third person. Include broad key terms to help people discover your work, for example, 鈥渟ustainability鈥 or 鈥渇ashion textiles鈥.
Research projects
Research Council funded projects will automatically appear here. The active project name is taken from the finance system.
Publications
Public outputs that list you as an author will appear here, once they鈥檙e validated by the ePrints Team. If you鈥檙e missing any outputs that you鈥檝e added to Pure, they may be waiting for validation.
Supervision
Current PhD Students
Contact your Faculty Operating Service team to update PhD students you supervise and any you鈥檝e previously supervised. Making this information available will help potential PhD applicants to find you.
Teaching
Dr Walters is Module lead for the Genomics Guided Treatment and Dissertation modules on the MSc Genomics. She is also Feild lead for Translational Cancer Cell Biolody for the BMedSci programme. She lectures on a number of modules at the Univerisyt of Southampton and externally. She has supervised a large number of BM and MSc project students.
You can update your teaching description in . Select 鈥楨dit profile鈥. Under the heading and then 鈥楥urriculum and research description鈥 , select 鈥楢dd profile information鈥. In the dropdown menu, select 鈥 鈥楾eaching Interests鈥. Describe your teaching interests and your current responsibilities. Aim for 200 words maximum.
Courses and modules
Contact the Curriculum and Quality Assurance (CQA) team for your faculty to update this section.
External roles and responsibilities
You can update your external roles and responsibilities in . Select 鈥+ Add content鈥 and then 鈥楢ctivity鈥, your 鈥楶ersonal鈥 tab and then 鈥楢ctivities鈥. Choose which activities you want to show on your public profile.
You can hide activities from your public profile. Set the visibility as 'Backend' to only show this information within Pure, or 'Confidential' to make it visible only to you.
Biography
A chance to go into more detail about your work and interests.
This section will only display on your public profile if you鈥檝e added content.
Prizes
- Enhancer of Zest Homolog 2 (EZH2) as a therapeutic target in Rhabdomyosarcomas (2014)
- Corza Medical, 1st Prize Senior Oral Presentation Category - Roux Group Annual Meeting (2023)
- BASO Ronald Raven Proffered Prize (2023)
- Young Investigator Award - Surgical Research Society (2023)
- Normal Williams Prize for Best Clinical Paper (2024)
- Kevin Bernand Prize for Best Scientific Paper (2025)
- Enhancer of Zest Homolog 2 (EZH2) as a therapeutic target in Rhabdomyosarcomas (2014)
- Corza Medical, 1st Prize Senior Oral Presentation Category - Roux Group Annual Meeting (2023)
- BASO Ronald Raven Proffered Prize (2023)
- Young Investigator Award - Surgical Research Society (2023)
- Norman Williams Prize for Best Clinical Paper (2024)
- Kevin Bernand Prize for Best Scientific Paper (2025)
You can update your biography section in . Select your 鈥楶ersonal鈥 tab then 鈥楨dit profile鈥. Under the heading, and 鈥楥urriculum and research description鈥, select 鈥楢dd profile information鈥. In the dropdown menu, select - 鈥楤iography鈥. Aim for no more than 400 words.
This section will only appear if you enter the information into .
Prizes
You can update this section in . Select 鈥+Add content鈥 and then 鈥楶rize鈥. using the 鈥楶rizes鈥 section.
You can choose to hide prizes from your public profile. Set the visibility as 鈥楤ackend鈥 to only show this information within Pure, or 鈥楥onfidential鈥 to make it visible only to you.