Professor Tom Vulliamy, FRCPath

Profile

Tom Vulliamy obtained a Zoology degree at Oxford University and a PhD working with Martin Raff at UCL. Since then has worked in human genetics, initially with Jim Gusella at Harvard Medical School and then with Lucio Luzzatto at the Hammersmith Hospital in London. He worked as a Clinical Scientist running a small molecular diagnostic laboratory while collaborating with Inderjeet Dokal and Philip Mason in the cloning of disease genes.  He was appointed Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD) in 2006 and promoted to Professor in 2015. He retired in 2021 but continues to be associated with Queen Mary as a Professor Emeritus.

Summary

Professor Tom Vulliamy combines research into genetic diseases with teaching and training of students and doctors.  The main focus of his research is the identification of disease genes that cause bone marrow failure. Positional cloning projects involving families with dyskeratosis congenita have shown that molecules involved in telomere maintenance are defective in this disease. Functional characterisation of these mutations describes how defective telomeres result in a premature aging phenotype in humans. The work has been translated into molecular diagnosis for at risk individuals. Next generation sequencing strategies are currently being employed in further gene discovery projects.

Patients with inherited bone marrow failure syndromes have a significantly increased risk of developing cancer, particularly acute myeloid leukaemia. This link has lead us into studying familial forms of leukaemia. This has helped define the molecular basis of this disease as well as identifying novel candidate genes.

Teaching

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Research

Research Interests:

Telomere biology; bone marrow failure; identification of disease genes; familial leukaemia

Recent and ongoing research projects:

• The genetic basis and pathophysiology of dyskeratosis congenita, aplastic anaemia and related disorders.
• The genetic and functional basis familial myelodysplasia and leukaemia

 

Research Group Members

Dr Hemanth Tummala, Postdoctoral Associate

Jenna Alnajar, Research Technician

Nikolas Ponikos, Postdoctoral Research Assistant - Computational

Publications

Tummala H, Collopy LC, Walne AJ, Ellison A, Cardoso S, Aksu T, Yarali N, Aslan D, Fikret Akata R, Teo J, Songyang Z, Pontikos N, Fitzgibbon J, Tomita K, Vulliamy T, Dokal I. (2018) Homozygous OB-fold variants in telomere protein TPP1 are associated with dyskeratosis congenita-like phenotypes. Blood. 132:1349-1353.

Tummala H, Dokal AD, Walne A, Ellison A, Cardoso S, Amirthasigamanipillai S, Kirwan M, Browne I, Sidhu JK, Rajeeve V, Rio-Machin A, Seraihi AA, Duncombe AS, Jenner M, Smith OP, Enright H, Norton A, Aksu T, Özbek NY, Pontikos N, Cutillas P, Dokal I, Vulliamy T (2018) Genome instability is a consequence of transcription deficiency in patients with bone marrow failure harboring biallelic ERCC6L2 variants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 115:7777-7782.

Tummala H, Walne A J, Williams M, Bockett N, Collopy L, Cardoso S, Ellison A, Wynn R,  Leblanc T, Fitzgibbon J,  Kelsell D P, van Heel D A, Payne E, Plagnol V, Dokal I and Vulliamy T (2016) DNAJC21 mutations link a cancer prone bone marrow failure syndrome to corrupted 60S ribosome subunit maturation. Am J Hum Genet, 99: 115-124

Tummala H, Walne AJ, Collopy LC, Cardoso SR, de la Fuente J, Lawson S, Powell J, Cooper N, Foster A, Mohammed S, Plagnol V, Vulliamy T, Dokal I (2015)  Poly(A)-specific ribonuclease deficiency impacts on telomere biology causing dyskeratosis congenita. J Clin Invest, 125:2151-2160.

Video link:

 

Tummala H, Kirwan M, Walne AJ, Hossain U, Jackson N, Pondarre C, Plagnol V, Vulliamy T, Dokal I (2014) ERCC6L2 mutations link a distinct bone-marrow-failure syndrome to DNA repair and mitochondrial function. Am J Hum Genet. 94:246-256.

Walne AJ, Vulliamy T, Kirwan M, Plagnol V, Dokal I (2013) Constitutional mutations in RTEL1 cause severe dyskeratosis congenita. Am J Hum Genet. 92:448-453

Walne AJ, Vulliamy T, Beswick R, Kirwan M and Dokal I (2010) Mutations in C16orf57 and normal length telomeres unify a subset of patients with dyskeratosis congenita, poikiloderma with neutropenia and Rothmund-Thomson syndrome Hum. Mol. Genet 19:4453-61

Vulliamy T, Beswick R, Kirwan M, Marrone M, Digweed M, Walne A, Dokal I (2008) Mutations in the telomerase component NHP2 cause the premature ageing syndrome dyskeratosis congenita. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 105:8073-8078.

Vulliamy T, Marrone A, Szydlo R, Walne A, Mason PJ, Dokal I (2004) Disease anticipation is associated with progressive telomere shortening in families with dyskeratosis congenita due to mutations in TERC. Nature Genetics 36:447-449

Vulliamy TJ, Marrone A, Dokal I, Mason PJ (2002) Association between aplastic anaemia and mutations in telomerase RNA. Lancet, 359:2168-2170.

Vulliamy T, Marrone A, Goldman F, Dearlove A, Bessler M, Mason PJ, Dokal I (2001) The RNA component of telomerase is mutated in autosomal dominant dyskeratosis congenita. Nature 413:432-435.

Heiss NS*, Knight SW*, Vulliamy TJ*, Klauk SM, Wiemann S, Mason PJ, Poustka A, Dokal I (1998) X-linked dyskeratosis congenita is caused by mutations in a highly conserved gene with putative nucleolar functions. Nature Genetics 19:32-38

 

In the media:

BBC1 television: ‘Can we live for ever’ with Liz Bonin on Bang Goes the Theory, April 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007bc7l

The Independent: ‘Dr Tom Vulliamy: I was assessed and the news was not good – but I'll live’, May 2011. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/dr-tom-vulliamy-i-was-assessed-and-the-news-was-not-good-ndash-but-ill-live-2284643.html

Reuters television: comment on the public availability of telomere length measurement, July 2011. http://uk.reuters.com/video/2011/07/30/blood-test-offering-clues-on-speed-of-ag?videoId=217664956&videoChannel=4000

Sky News: comment on telomere test that tells you how long you’ll live, May 2011.

BBC World News and World Service radio: comment on Noble Prize for Medicine awarded to Blackburn, Grieder and Szostak, May 2009

BBC1 television: appearance with Michael Mosely on ‘Make Me Live Forever’, March 2009

 

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View all Tom Vulliamy's Research Publications at: http://www.researchpublications.qmul.ac.uk