Alan Warren

Professor Alan Warren is a Professor of Haematology at the University of Cambridge and an Affiliated Principal Investigator at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. His research bridges molecular biology, haematology, and stem cell science with a focus on ribosome assembly mechanisms and their impact on stem cell function.

His research interests include:

• Ribosome assembly and maturation
• Haematopoietic stem cell biology
• Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
• Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS)
• Bone marrow failure disorders
• Leukaemia predisposition mechanisms

Professor Warren's laboratory made significant contributions by solving the X-ray structure of the SBDS protein and discovering its essential role in the maturation of 60S ribosomal subunits. His work has established SDS as an important model for understanding how ribosome defects perturb haematopoietic stem cell function and promote progression to MDS and AML. His research has identified the ribosomal protein-Mdm2 interaction as a critical stress-signaling pathway activated by aberrant ribosome biogenesis.

His educational background includes undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry (1983) and Medicine (1986) from the University of Glasgow, followed by a PhD in Molecular Biology in 1995 at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology under Dr. Terry Rabbitts, where he discovered the essential role of LIM-only protein Lmo2 in haematopoiesis.

Professor Warren is based at the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, where he continues to investigate the molecular mechanisms linking ribosome assembly defects to haematological disorders.