iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Ahlam Alqahtani

LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Last month, @letimarchetti.bsky.social gave an introduction to our research to the team at Leica Biosystems. It was a great opportunity to share our work, discuss our research, and exchange ideas. Thank you to Leica and @childcancernth.bsky.social for the invitation and the engaging discussions!

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Delighted to share that LEGEND Group Leader, Lisa Russell, has been promoted to Professor of Cancer Epigenomics! 🎉🧬 A milestone built on hard work, dedication, an amazing team, awesome support — and a healthy dose of good fortune. Excited for what comes next! 🔬

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

On #WorldCancerResearchDay, the group embraced #gold to support @childcancernth.bsky.social initiative #PaintTheToonGold to raise awareness for #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth. Our efforts go beyond the lab when it comes to support #CancerResearch 🧬🧡

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This Blood Cancer Awareness Month, we stand alongside patients, families, clinicians and researchers working towards a future where blood cancers are detected earlier, treated and ultimately prevented. Every discovery starts with research at the bench 🧪🩸 #BloodCancerAwarenessMonth

Thank you to Martin Newman for capturing our research in the lab.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

We’re glad to have participated in the 23rd CLR-UK Annual Meeting in Nottingham! It was a great opportunity to share our research, contribute to organising the meeting, exchange ideas, and network with fellow scientists working in childhood leukaemia research. #CLRUK2026 #BCUK

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

A multicultural lab group comes with so many advantages! We don’t only share valuable ideas and different prospective, but we also get to share traditional food and learn about each other's cultures. Thanks @alsayadi.bsky.social for introducing us to Arabic coffee and sharing sweet treats!

Arabic coffee, dates and traditional sweet treats.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

This week @dr-ahlamq.bsky.social has been preparing DNA for long-read sequencing. Historically, DNA is broken into 'chunks' to read the code. Long-read sequencing is newer technology for deciphering much longer stretches of DNA, providing in-depth information about leukaemia genetics.

Dr Ahlam Alqahtani is carefully examining a tube containing DNA that has been extracted for long-read sequencing technologies.

The long strands of DNA 'wrap-around' glass beads within the tube, enabling us to extract much longer DNA strands than traditional methods.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

🧬 Fighting Paediatric Leukaemia with Epigenetics: 4-Year PhD Opportunity! Looking to push the boundaries of cancer research using cutting-edge epigenomic technology? We are seeking a dedicated PhD student to join the LEGEND group. Full details in the link below: bit.ly/LEGEND_PhD

The LEGEND group in the lab.
From left to right: Dr Ahlam Alqahtani, Dr Nicholas Brittain, Dr Letizia Marchetti, Camille Drai, Dr Lisa Russell (group leader), Ahmed Alsayadi, Phoebe Snow

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Very proud that LEGEND Group technician, Camille Drai, won two prestigious Techncian Awards. Well done @camilledrai.bsky.social 👏

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Molly’s story is a powerful reminder of why we are committed to fighting leukaemia. Every donation supports better treatment development. bloodcancer.org.uk/get-involved... Not only does research continue to grow, but our @bloodcanceruk.bsky.social project plant grows alongside it, a symbol of hope.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

We’re excited to welcome a talented new postdoctoral researcher, Monika Gonka, to the LEGEND group! She’ll be leading data-driven projects and supporting the team as a bioinformatics research assistant. Welcome aboard, Monika!

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Shout out this #InternationalMensDay to Ahmed Alsayadi (@alsayadi.bsky.social) and Nick Brittain — brilliant cancer researchers and all-round great humans. Your skill, drive, and good vibes make the LEGEND team what it is 💙

Ahmed is happily working away in our tissue culture lab

Nick is working in the lab pipetting reagents for his current experiment.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

I was welcomed to the lab meeting yesterday by this spooky bunch 🤪. Always up for a giggle and certainly made my day 😆

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

We’re proud to share the inspiring story of Dr. Dan Mattison — diagnosed with leukaemia at age 14, and now a Foundation Year 2 doctor. Dan and his family are welcoming a £4.1 million investment from @cancerresearchuk.org. Read more here: www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articl...

ncl.ac.uk

Alumnus who survived teenage cancer welcomes multi-million funding

A Newcastle University graduate who survived cancer as a teen and was inspired to become a doctor by those who cared for him, is welcoming a multi-million pound investment from Cancer Research UK.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

September is #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth. Our team joined the @childcancernth.bsky.social campaign #PaintTheToonGold to show support for children with cancer and their families. Together, we can raise awareness and keep pushing research forward.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Research is not a solo effort. It takes teamwork. It takes belief. It takes collaboration. We know what it takes to beat blood cancer and so does @dr-ahlamq.bsky.social whose work is funded by @bloodcanceruk.bsky.social grant co-led by Lisa & @letimarchetti.bsky.social #BloodCancerAwarenessMonth

Lisa is the Principal Investigator of the group
but she still enjoys spending time in the lab to drive
the work to beat blood cancer.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Morning coffee and train for the whole lab today, direction #CLRUK25 in York! Looking forward to seeing everyone from the CLR-UK network! #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth #BloodCancerAwarenessMonth

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Recent nice weather called for a social outing of the LEGEND group, filled with fun, sport and a MUST stop for ice cream by the coast 🍦. We also had our first lab retreat at Cockle Park, featuring good scientific discussion 🧬 and a visit by our @ukri.org MRC collaborators from Edinburgh ✨

Deserved rest after an exciting volleyball tournament

Ice-cream is the best way to end a great social outing with the lab

The group got bigger! We count, from the left: Camille (Research Technician), Ahmed (PhD student), Leti (PostDoc), Lisa (Group Leader), Ahlam (PostDoc), Nick (PostDoc) and Phoebe (PhD student)

MRC collaborators from Edinburgh, Chris A.Brackley (left) and Rodrigo Rivas Barbosa (right)

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Letizia Marchetti @letimarchetti.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Two weeks countdown to #PINT25! No need to be sad yet, as #Newcastle @pintofscience.uk @pintsworld.bsky.social has still tickets available! More info here: pintofscience.co.uk/events/newca... Spread the word!

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Our lab was delighted to host a lab tour for the fantastic team from @teleperformance-gp.bsky.social We were happy to showcase our expertise in cell culture(Leti&Cami), gene editing (Ahlam&Ahmed) and data analysis (Phoebe). Thanks for sponsoring the Business Beats Cancer North East.

It was lovely to meet Jamie Smith, Chris Breckon, Dave Green, Rachel Robinson, serena Magee, Anna Vrublevskaya, Christopher Burns, Suzanne Middleton, Mark McCarthy, and Suzannah Harnor at the event.

Cami is explaining how we use blood cancer cell lines to explore options for better therapy interventions.

Leti is showing how the transfected cell lines appear under a florescent microscope .

Ahmed and Ahlam are explaining the technical aspect of using gel electrophoresis.

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LEGEND: Leukaemia EpiGenomic & ENhancer Dysregulation group @ljrusselllab.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

April is Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month (TYACAM) and @dr-ahlamq.bsky.social was thrilled to give her first presentation about our new findings in a rare type of leukaemia that affects the TYA community @newcastleuni.bsky.social. @childcancernth.bsky.social. Funded by blood cancer.

Ahlam is in the tissue culture lab, doing the first experiment for the project funded by @bloodcancer_uk. Using a hemocytometer, she will count the number of cancer cells to assess cell viability.

Ahlam is super excited to give her first presentation on a rare subtype of leukaemia. The planted money tree is doing great and growing strong as the project moves along!

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