Professor Sherif El-Khamisy
academic title
Adjunct professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics
Other Title
Director of the Center of Genomics
Contact Information
Email: selkhamisy@zewailcity.edu.eg
Admin Support
Ms Asmaa Abou-Elsaud
Email: aaboulsaud@zewailcity.edu.eg
Professor Sherif El-Khamisy is the director of the Center of Genomics (CG) and an adjunct professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the University of Science and Technology, Zewail City.
El-Khamisy graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, followed by a Master of Science degree in biochemistry from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University. He then obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in biochemistry from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, followed by post-doctoral training in the United States and the United Kingdom. El-Khamisy completed a diploma in business administration at the American University in Cairo and a diploma in teaching and learning in higher education from the University of Sussex, UK.
El-Khamisy’s academic career started as an assistant lecturer followed by assistant professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University. El-Khamisy then held a postdoctoral position at the department of genetics at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the United States, and served as a Medical Research Council (MRC) postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sussex’s MRC Genome Damage and Stability Centre in the United Kingdom. Currently, El-Khamisy is the chair of molecular genetics at the Russell Group Universities in the United Kingdom, heading research teams at both the University of Sheffield and the University of Sussex.
El-Khamisy is the recipient of the Egyptian National Award in medical sciences from the National Science Academy in Egypt, the distinguished Wellcome Trust Fellowship and Wellcome Trust Investigator Award from the United Kingdom, and the 2014 Abdul Hameed Shoman Award for Arab Researchers in medical and health sciences from Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation.
He has recently been elected as a fellow of the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, U.K.; a fellow of the British Higher Education Academy; a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, U.K.; and a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemisrty, U.K. El-Khamisy is the co-founder of the Egyptian Young Academy of Science and serves on its scientific advisory board.
El-Khamisy’s main research interest is in the field of genome research and medicine. El-Khamisy’s group is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK, the Royal Lister Institute, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
El-Khamisy published over 35 peer-reviewed papers including two studies published in Nature in 2005 and 2009, one in Nature Communications in 2012 and one in Nature Genetics in 2014. He authored and co-authored other papers in many prestigious journals such as Cell, EMBO Molecular Medicine, Nucleic Acid Research, Molecular and Cellular Biology, British Journal of Cancer, Nature Reviews Cancer, and Human Molecular Genetics, among others.
El-Khamisy’s work led to the discovery of a novel genetic pathway in 2009 and identified the first human disease with defects in this pathway in 2014. Driven by his initial training as a pharmacist, Sherif is leading initiatives to translate these findings to the clinic. His work is of significant impact in the field of genome research and medicine with over 1965 citations and an H-index of 20 with an average impact factor of 14.
El-Khamisy graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, followed by a Master of Science degree in biochemistry from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University. He then obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in biochemistry from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, followed by post-doctoral training in the United States and the United Kingdom. El-Khamisy completed a diploma in business administration at the American University in Cairo and a diploma in teaching and learning in higher education from the University of Sussex, UK.
El-Khamisy’s main research interest is in the field of genome research and medicine. His work led to the discovery of a novel genetic pathway in 2009 and identified the first human disease with defects in this pathway in 2014.
El-Khamisy is a fellow of the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, U.K.; a fellow of the British Higher Education Academy; a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, U.K.; and a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemisrty, U.K. El-Khamisy is the co-founder of the Egyptian Young Academy of Science and serves on its scientific advisory board.
El-Khamisy is the recipient of the Egyptian National Award in medical sciences from the National Science Academy in Egypt, the distinguished Wellcome Trust Fellowship and Wellcome Trust Investigator Award from the United Kingdom, and the 2014 Abdul Hameed Shoman Award for Arab Researchers in medical and health sciences from Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation.
- Ashour M., Atteya R, El-Khamisy S.F (2015). Topoisomerase-mediated chromosomal break repair: an emerging player in many games. Nat Rev Cancer. 15(3):137-51.
- Gómez-Herreros F, Schuurs-Hoeijmakers JH, McCormack M, Greally MT, Rulten S, Romero-Granados R, Counihan TJ, Chaila E, Conroy J, Ennis S, Delanty N, Cortés-Ledesma F, de Brouwer AP, Cavalleri GL, El-Khamisy S.F.*, de Vries BB*, Caldecott KW* (2014). TDP2 protects transcription from abortive topoisomerase activity and is required for normal neural function. Nature Genetics. 46: 516–52.* Corresponding author.
- Carroll, J., Page, T. K. W., Chiang, S.-C., Kalmar, B., Bode, D., Greensmith, L., Hafezparasat, M., El-Khamisy S.F. (2014). Expression of a pathogenic mutation of SOD1 sensitizes aprataxin-deficient cells and mice to oxidative stress and triggers hallmarks of premature ageing. Human Molecular Genetics, 24(3):828-40.
- Alagoz M, Wells OS, El-Khamisy S.F* (2014). TDP1 deficiency sensitizes human cells to base damage via distinct topoisomerase I and PARP mechanisms with potential applications for cancer therapy. Nucleic Acids Research 1; 42(5): 3089-103. * Corresponding author.
- Hudson, J.R., Chiang, S., Wells, O.S., Rookyard, C., El-Khamisy, S.F.* (2012). SUMO modification of the neuroprotective protein TDP1 facilitates chromosomal single-strand break repair. Nature Communications, 13; 3:73. * Corresponding author.
- Cortes-Ledesma F.*, El-Khamisy, S.F. *, Zuma, M., Osbourne, K., Caldecott, K.W. (2009). Identification of a Human 5’-Tyrosyl DNA Phosphodiesterase That Repairs Topoisomerase- Mediated DNA Damage. Nature, 461(7264):674-8 * Equal contributions.
- Zeng, Z., Sharma, A., Murai, J., Pommier, Y., Takeda, S., Huylebroeck, D., Caldecott, K., El-Khamisy, S.F (2012). TDP2 Promotes Repair of Topoisomerase 1-mediated DNA damage in the absence of TDP1. Nucleic Acids Res, 40(17): 8371-80.
- Hudson, J.R., Chiang, S., Wells, O.S., Rookyard, C., El-Khamisy, S.F (2012). SUMO modification of the neuroprotective protein TDP1 facilitates chromosomal single-strand break repair. Nature Commun, 13; 3:733.
- Gilbert1, D.C., Chalmers, A., El Khamisy, S.F (2012). Topoisomerase I inhibition in colorectal cancer: biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Br J Cancer, 106(1): 18–24.
El Khamisy, S.F (2011). To live or to die: a matter of processing damaged DNA termini in neurons. EMBO Mol Med, 3(2):78-88. - Kerzendorfer, C., Whibley, A., Carpenter, G., Outwin, E., Chiang, S.C., Turner, G., Schwartz, C., El-Khamisy, S.F., Raymond, F.L., O'Driscoll, M. (2010). Mutations in cullin 4B result in a human syndrome associated with increased camptothecin-induced topoisomerase I-dependent DNA breaks. Hum Mol Genet, 19(7):1324-34.
- Chiang, S., Caroll, J., El-Khamisy, S.F. (2010). TDP1 serine 81 promotes interaction with DNA ligase IIIalpha and facilitates cell survival following DNA damage. Cell Cycle. 9(3).
- Cortes-Ledesma F.*, El-Khamisy, S.F. *, Zuma, M., Osbourne, K., Caldecott, K.W. (2009). Identification of a Human 5’-Tyrosyl DNA Phosphodiesterase That Repairs Topoisomerase- Mediated DNA Damage. Nature, 461(7264):674-8 * Equal contributions.
- Lee, Y., Katyal, S., Li, Y., Russell, H.R., El-Khamisy, S.F., Caldecott, K.W., Mckinnon, P.J. (2009). Genesis of cerebellar interneurons and the prevention of neural DNA damage require XRCC1. Nature Neuroscience. 12(8):973-80.
- El-Khamisy, S.F. *, Katyal, S., Patel, P., Ju, L., McKinnon, P.J., Caldecott, K.W. (2009). Synergistic decrease of DNA single-strand break repair rates in mouse neural cells lacking both Tdp1 and aprataxin. DNA Repair, 2009 8(6):760-6). *Corresponding author.
- Katyal, S.*, El-Khamisy, S.F. *, Russel, H.R., Li, Y., Ju, L., Caldecott, K.W., McKinnon, P.J. (2007). TDP1 facilitates chromosomal single-strand break repair in neurons and is neuroprotective in vivo. EMBO J, 14; 26(22):4720-31. * Equal contributions.
- El-Khamisy, S.F. * Hartsuiker, E., and Caldecott, K.W. (2007). TDP1 facilitates repair of ionizing radiation-induced DNA single-strand breaks. DNA Repair, 6(10):1485-95. * Corresponding author.
- El-Khamisy, S.F., and Caldecott, K.W. (2006). DNA single-strand break repair and spinocerebellar ataxia with axonal neuropathy-1. Neuroscience, 145(4): 1260-6.
- Ahe,l I., Rass, U., El-Khamisy, S.F., Katyal, S., Clements, P.M., McKinnon, P.J., Caldecott, K.W., West, S.C (2006). The neurodegenerative disease protein aprataxin resolves abortive DNA ligation intermediates. Nature, 443, 713-6.
- El-Khamisy, S.F., Saifi, G.M., Weinfeld, M., Johansson, F., Helleday, T., Lupski,J.R., and Caldecott, K.W. (2005) Defective DNA Single-Strand Break Repair in Spinocerebellar Ataxia with Axonal Neuropathy-1. Nature, 434, 108-113.
- Loizou, J.I., El-Khamisy, S.F., Zlatanou, A., Moore, D.J., Chan, D.W., Qin, J., Sarno, S., Meggio, F., Pinna, L.A. and Caldecott, K.W. (2004) The protein kinase CK2 facilitates repair of chromosomal DNA single-strand breaks. Cell, 117(1), 17-28.
- El-Khamisy, S.F., Masutani, M., Suzuki, H. and Caldecott, K.W. (2003) A requirement for PARP-1 for the assembly or stability of XRCC1 nuclear foci at sites of oxidative DNA damage. Nucleic Acids Res, 31, 5526-5533.