Dr Vicki E. Smith PhD

Vicki Smith

Department of Metabolism and Systems Science
Associate Professor in Molecular Endocrinology, BBSRC New Investigator Award Holder

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 415 8819
Email
v.e.smith@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
Address
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Vicki Smith is an Associate Professor in Molecular Endocrinology at the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science (MSS) at the University 麻豆精选.

Her research is focussed on understanding the molecular pathogenesis of thyroid disease and endocrine cancers, with a particular interest in dysregulated cell signalling and trafficking events.

She is currently investigating new regulatory mechanisms in cell signalling and motility, and identifying methods of enhancing radioiodine uptake in thyroid and breast cancer

Qualifications

  • PhD in Medicine, University 麻豆精选 (2008)
  • BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry, University of Leicester (2000)

Biography

Vicki qualified with a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Leicester in 2000. She then spent over four years working for a biopharmaceutical company in Oxfordshire, identifying potential drug targets using genetic analyses of large patient cohorts.

Vicki subsequently moved to Birmingham to study for a PhD investigating the cellular trafficking of the sodium iodide symporter (NIS), under the supervision of Professors Chris McCabe and Jayne Franklyn, which she completed in 2008. During these studies she identified the transmembrane glycoprotein pituitary tumor-transforming gene (PTTG)-binding factor (PBF/PTTG1IP) as the first known protein to interact with NIS and modulate its function, thereby impacting on thyroid hormone biosynthesis and radioiodine treatment in thyroid cancer.

As an MRC Post-Doctoral Researcher and Co-Investigator, Vicki continued this research in the Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, broadening the investigation of PBF function to include the modulation of other membrane transporters as well as PBF post-translational regulation in normal and tumorigenic thyroid signalling. Developing a keen interest in signal transduction she spent time in the lab of Professor James Fagin at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York working with in vitro and in vivo models of aberrant MAPK signalling as a Visiting Scientist.

Vicki established her own research group in the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science and currently holds a BBSRC New Investigator Award.

Teaching

  • Biomedical Science BSc
  • Dental Surgery BDS
  • Medicine and Surgery MBChB
  • Intercalating Clinical Sciences MSci

Postgraduate supervision

Vicki currently supervises/co-supervises 4 PhD students.

Vicki’s research group welcomes PhD and MRes students in projects relating to:

  • Thyroid biology
  • Endocrine cancer (thyroid or breast cancer)
  • Cell signalling and motility
  • Cell trafficking
  • Thyroid hormone metabolite analysis

If you are interested in studying any of these research areas, please contact Vicki directly.

Research

Vicki’s research interests are centred on thyroid biology and the molecular pathogenesis of thyroid disease. She is particularly interested in the signalling pathways that mediate normal thyroid growth and function and are dysregulated in thyroid cancer and goitre.

Vicki is currently exploring new insights into the regulation of physiological cellular signalling and motility in multiple cell types, including epithelial cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells and immune cells. These findings will inform multiple conditions in which cell motility is dysregulated, such as cancer progression and chronic inflammation. 

Vicki also has a longstanding interest in the cellular trafficking of the iodide transporter NIS and how this relates to radioiodine resistance in thyroid cancer. She investigates new therapeutic strategies both to improve critical radioiodine treatment in thyroid tumours and to induce radioiodine uptake in other tumour types such as breast cancer.

These investigations include in vitro culture systems, animal models and human tissue to combine fundamental and translational research.

Other activities

Selected Awards

  • BBSRC New Investigator Award (2021)
  • Endocrine-Related Cancer - Editor’s Choice and highly downloaded article (2017)
  • American Thyroid Association Research Award (2017)
  • Endocrine Society - International Award for Publishing Excellence in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (2014)
  • Journal of Molecular Endocrinology Prize (2013)
  • British Thyroid Foundation Research Award (2012)
  • Society for Endocrinology - Young Endocrinologist Basic Science Prize Lecture (2010)
  • Society for Endocrinology Early Career Grant (2009)

Membership of Societies

  • British Society for Cell Biology (BSCB)
  • Society for Endocrinology (SfE)
  • British Thyroid Association (BTA)
  • American Thyroid Association (ATA)

Membership of National Committees

  • British Thyroid Association Executive Committee (2013-2021)
  • Society for Endocrinology Programme Organising Committee (2014-2017)
  • Society for Endocrinology Science Committee (2013-2017)

Editorial positions

  • Editor-in-Chief, Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research (2024-present)
  • Editorial Board Member, Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism (2017-2024)
  • Editorial Board Member, Journal of Endocrinological Investigation (2014-2022)

UoB

  • Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network Lead, IMSR (2022-present)
  • Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS), IMSR (2016-present)
  • Director, IMSR Summer School (2022-2024)
  • Deputy Director, IMSR Summer School (2019-2022)
  • IMSR Lead, Postdoctoral/Early Researcher, Career Development and Training (PERCAT), College of MDS (2016-2022)        

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Manivannan, S, Kocbiyik, M, Banga, D, Nieto, H, Thomas, S, Read, M, McCabe, C & Smith, V 2024, '', Thyroid, vol. 34, no. S1, Poster 0208, pp. A52-A52.

Read, M, Brookes, K, Zha, L, Manivannan, S, Kim, J, Kocbiyik, M, Fletcher, A, Gorvin, CM, Firth, G, Fruhwirth, G, Nicola, J, Jhiang, S, Ringel, M, Campbell, M, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Boelaert, K, Nieto, H, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2023, '', Clinical Cancer Research.

Abstract

Banga, D, Manivannan, S, Hariharan, A, Nieto, H, Brookes, K, Read, M, McCabe, C, Heath, V & Smith, V 2025, '', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 109, P94.

Read, M, Brookes, K, Fear, J, Wongsanit, S, Small, B, Jones, A, Pham, T, Khine, M, Manivannan, S, Nieto, H, Stover, D, Jhiang, S, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Ringel, M, Campbell, M, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2025, '', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 109, OC2.6.

Manivannan, S, Kocbiyik, M, Banga, D, Hariharan, A, Nieto, H, Thomas, S, Read, M, McCabe, C & Smith, V 2025, '', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 109, OP5.1.

Wongsanit, S, Read, M, Zha, L, Brookes, K, Fear, J, Khine, M, Nieto, H, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2025, '', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 109, OC4.2.

Fear, J, Desanti, GE, Brookes, K, Richardson, N, Thornton, CEM, Zha, L, Smith, VE, Read, ML, Dias, RP & McCabe, CJ 2024, '', Thyroid Research, vol. 17, no. S1, PO1.

Manivannan, S, Kocbiyik, M, Banga, D, Afzal, A, Zha, L, Brookes, K, Nieto, HR, Thomas, S, Read, ML, McCabe, CJ & Smith, VE 2024, '', Thyroid Research, vol. 17, no. S1, PO3.

Read, M, Brookes, K, Zha, L, Kim, J, Fear, J, Wongsanit, S, Small, B, Nieto, H, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Jhiang, S, Ringel, M, Campbell, M, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Boelaert, K, Smith, V & McCabe, C 2024, '', Thyroid, vol. 34, no. S1, Poster 0201, pp. A49-A50.

Brookes, K, Zha, L, Kim, J, Wongsanit, S, Fear, J, Small, B, Nieto, HR, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Jhiang, S, Ringel, MD, Campbell, MJ, Sunassee, K, Blower, PJ, Boelaert, K, Smith, VE, Read, ML & McCabe, CJ 2024, '', Thyroid Research, vol. 17, no. S1, OR2.

Brookes, K, Zha, L, Small, B, Kim, J, Manivannan, S, Thornton, C, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Nieto, H, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Smith, V, Read, M & McCabe, C 2023, '', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 94, OC7.1.

Brookes, K, Zha, L, Kim, J, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Smith, V, Read, M & McCabe, C 2023, '', Cancer Research, vol. 83, no. 7_Supplement, 5053.

Manivannan, S, Banga, D, Kocbiyik, M, Read, M, Zha, L, Brookes, K, Nieto, H, McCabe, C & Smith, V 2023, '', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 94, OC2.6.

Brookes, K, Zha, L, Kim, J, Small, B, Kocbiyik, M, Manivannan, S, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Sunassee, K, Blower, P, Nieto, H, Smith, V, Read, M & McCabe, C 2023, '', Endocrine Abstracts, vol. 90, OC11.1.

Preprint

Brookes, K, Thornton, CEM, Zha, L, Kim, J, Small, B, Fear, JS, Nieto, HR, Western, H, Jones, A, Pham, TT, Bottegoni, G, Cox, LR, Kannappan, V, Wang, W, Gorvin, CM, Stover, DG, Spitzweg, C, Jhiang, S, Ringel, MD, Campbell, MJ, Sunassee, K, Blower, PJ, Boelaert, K, Smith, VE, Read, ML & McCabe, CJ 2024 '' SSRN. <>