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Institute of Dentistry - Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

Dr Gernot Walko , Mag. Dr. (Austria) Gernot Walko, FHEA (UK)

Senior Lecturer in Squamous Cell Carcinogenesis

Email: g.walko@qmul.ac.uk
Room Number: Blizard Institute, Whitechapel Campus

Profile

Gernot Walko (Magister rer. nat., Doctor rer. nat) received his undergraduate and postgraduate training in microbiology and molecular biology from the University of Vienna, Austria. He did his PhD in molecular cell biology in the lab of Prof Gerhard Wiche, where his research focused on the roles of cytoskeletal linker proteins in the context of human skin blistering diseases.

Following initial postdoctoral training in Vienna, Dr Walko moved to London in 2013, supported by a prestigious Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship, to join the world-leading stem cell lab of Prof Fiona Watt at King’s College London where his research focused on the molecular mechanisms controlling self-renewal of human epidermal stem cells.

In April 2018, Dr Walko became Lecturer and Principal Investigator in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry (now Department of Life Sciences) at the University of Bath, UK. There, supported by research grants from the BBSRC, Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal Society, and the British Skin Foundation, his research group (https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/gernot-walko) has been studying epidermal stem cells in healthy and diseased skin, with a special focus on the Hippo/YAP/TAZ signalling pathway and its role in skin cancer.

In October 2022, Dr Walko joined the Centre for Oral Immunobiology and Regenerative Medicine at the Institute of Dentistry as a Barts Charity-funded Senior Lecturer in Squamous Cell Carcinogenesis, to continue his research on squamous cancers at QMUL.

Dr Walko is member of the executive committee of the Barts Centre for Squamous Cancer (https://www.qmul.ac.uk/bcsc/), a cross-faculty research theme funded by the Barts Charity, dedicated to improving detection, treatment, and quality of life for patients with squamous cancer.

Dr Walko is also a member of QMUL’s Epidermolysis Bullosa research hub (https://www.bci.qmul.ac.uk/our-research/epidermolysis-bullosa/).

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