Rate My Professor Ines Sequeira

Dr Ines Sequeira is a Senior Lecturer in Oral and Skin Biology and Deputy Director of Research at the Institute of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, having joined the institution in 2020 as a Lecturer. She earned her biology degree from the University of Lisbon and Université Libre de Bruxelles, followed by a PhD from the Institut Pasteur in Paris. Her postdoctoral training was undertaken at the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at King’s College London under Professor Fiona Watt. In addition to her academic roles, Sequeira serves as a Reader and Group Leader, focusing her laboratory on advanced methodologies to explore tissue regeneration and pathology.

Sequeira's research investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying oral cancer formation and the exceptional regenerative capacity of the oral mucosa, which heals rapidly and without scarring unlike skin. Her work emphasizes the role of fibroblasts in wound healing and regeneration, employing single-cell and spatial multi-omics, multiplex imaging, 2D and 3D organoid cultures, and 3D live-imaging to dissect pathways in oral wound healing and tumorigenesis. Notable publications include 'Lrig1-expression confers suppressive function to CD4+ cells and is essential for averting autoimmunity via the Smad2/3/Foxp3 axis' (Nature Communications, 2023, co-author); 'A Roadmap for the Human Oral and Craniofacial Cell Atlas' (Journal of Dental Research, 2022, co-author); 'The genomic landscape and clonal selection of carcinogen-induced mouse oral squamous cell carcinoma' (Nature Communications, 2020, corresponding author); 'Immunomodulatory role of Keratin 76 in oral and gastric cancer' (Nature Communications, 2018, corresponding author); 'Heterogeneity Within Stratified Epithelial Stem Cell Populations Maintains the Oral Mucosa in Response to Physiological Stress' (Cell Stem Cell, 2019, co-author); and 'A Scarless Healing Tale: Comparing Homeostasis and Wound Healing of Oral Mucosa with Skin and Oesophagus' (Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2021, corresponding author). She was awarded Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2018. Sequeira co-founded the London Stem Cell Network, coordinates the Oral and Craniofacial Biological Network of the Human Cell Atlas, and contributes to initiatives such as the Barts Centre for Squamous Cancer and the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models.