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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

Professor of Biological and Biomedical Chemistry

What we do...

Our research focusses on the molecular structure of biological tissues.  The bulk of structural tissues such as bone, muscle, tendon and skin, is the so-called extracellular matrix.  This extracellular material gives the tissue its essential mechanical properties, for instance the stiffness and toughness of bone, the elasticity of skin.  The molecular structure of the extracellular matrix is complex and subject to equally complex chemistry on a daily basis.  This leads to structural changes, which in ageing, in diseases such as cancer and degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis can be substantial.  Cells take their cues from the molecular structure of the extracellular matrix that surrounds them, and so their behaviour changes when the extracellular matrix structure changes.  This results in aberrant cell behaviour in cancer for instance, and imperfect tissue repair after damage in ageing.

The major paradigm in our research is that normal cell behaviour can be restored by restoring normal extracellular matrix structure. Our work aims to generate the understanding needed to drive development of new therapeutics for degenerative diseases.

You can read more about our research here.

We are funded by... 

The European Research Council, the Medcical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, Cycle Pharmaceuticals and Cambridge Oncology.

Watch Professor Melinda Duer discuss her research

Take a two-minute tour of the Duer Lab

Publications

Crystal nucleation in biominerals: general discussion
O Ayre, T Azaïs, N Barbosa, L Bertinetti, H Birkedal, V Chamard, DM Chevrier, TEK Christensen, Y Dauphin, MN Dean, J Deering, R Demichelis, M Duer, M Elbaum, R Gonnah, L Gower, TA Grünewald, L Houben, Y-L Hsu, R Kröger, F Marin, MD McKee, F Nudelman, JE Parker, K Penkman, A Perez-Huerta, P Rez, N Reznikov, A Rodriguez-Palomo, A Rossi, V Schemenz, A Triccas, B Wingender
– Faraday discussions
(2025)
261,
166
Interfaces at the nano scale: general discussion.
O Ayre, T Azaïs, N Barbosa, H Birkedal, S Ceseri, V Chamard, K Chandra Rajan, DM Chevrier, TEK Christensen, L D'Alba, Y Dauphin, J Deering, R Demichelis, J Duboisset, M Duer, M Elbaum, R Gonnah, L Gower, TA Grünewald, L Houben, B Khurshid, R Kröger, F Marin, MD McKee, F Nudelman, JE Parker, P Rez, N Reznikov, A Rossi, K Sauer, V Schemenz, A Triccas
– Faraday Discuss
(2025)
261,
312
Connecting length scales: general discussion
O Ayre, S Ceseri, V Chamard, K Chandra Rajan, TEK Christensen, Y Dauphin, J Deering, M Duer, M Elbaum, L Gower, TA Grünewald, L Guichaoua, L Houben, B Khurshid, R Kröger, F Lizzi, F Marin, MD McKee, F Nudelman, JE Parker, E Raguin, P Rez, N Reznikov, A Rodriguez-Palomo, A Rossi, V Schemenz, A Triccas, B Wingender
– Faraday Discussions
(2025)
261,
542
Pathophysiology of Femoral Fractures in Hypophosphatasia
FGA Tabegna, M Garton, S D'Amore, L Skingle, S Dillon, MJ Duer, GPR Clunie, KES Poole
– Current osteoporosis reports
(2025)
23,
36
Lysyl oxidase-mediated intermolecular crosslinks fine-tune collagen I molecular dynamics and regulate cell-matrix interactions through focal adhesions
S Dillon, J Clark, MJ Duer
(2025)
Molecular flexibility of high molecular weight hyaluronic acid has a profound effect on invasion of cancer cells
U Bashtanova, A Kuraite, R Rajan, M Duer
– R Soc Open Sci
(2025)
12,
251036
Preserving Integrity: Innovative In Vitro Methods for Extracellular Matrix Decellularization and Collagen Purification
U Bashtanova, R Li, I Goldberga, K Gerl, KP Burgess, AJ Wegner-Repke, MJ Duer
(2025)
Interface-edited solid-state NMR to study cell interfaces
T Kress, MJ Duer
– Communications Chemistry
(2025)
8,
86
Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy Investigation of Structural Changes of Mechanically Strained Mouse Tail Tendons
T Kress, MJ Duer
– Journal of the American Chemical Society
(2025)
147,
9220
Poly(ADP-ribose) binding sites on collagen I fibrils for nucleating intrafibrillar bone mineral
M Duer, M Zecca, H Greer, K Muller
– Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
(2025)
122,
e2414849122
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Research Group

Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336483
01223 763934 (shared)

Email address

mjd13@cam.ac.uk