Dr Helen Kemp BSc(Hons) PhD

Research Fellow

Address
Department of Human Metabolism
School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
University of Sheffield
Floor O, Laboratory OU138, Office OU149,
Royal Hallamshire Hospital,
Glossop Road
Sheffield S10 2JF
Tel: +44 (0)114 271 2844 / 226 1412
Fax: +44 (0)114 271 3960
E.mail: e.h.kemp@sheffield.ac.uk

email : e.h.kemp@sheffield.ac.uk

Biography

I joined the University of Sheffield in 1988 after a PhD in Microbiology at the University of Warwick and the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, Salisbury. After six years as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (with Dr. Anne Moir), I moved to the Medical School to take up my current position as Research Fellow with Professor Anthony Weetman. I am now based in the Department of Human Metabolism in the Academic Unit of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Research Interests

I have a long-standing interest in the autoimmune and genetic aspects of the depigmenting skin disease vitiligo. This research aims to understand the underlying pathogenic mechanisms in vitiligo and potentially provide diagnostic tools. The British Skin Foundation, The Vitiligo Society and the Sheffield Hospitals´ Charitable Trust have funded this work which has been undertaken in collaboration with Prof. Anthony Weetman and Prof. David Gawkrodger (Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK). More recently, I have developed collaborations with other researchers to profile antibody responses to pigment cells in vitiligo (Dr. Rosalie Luiten, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Dr. Vandana Pradhan, National Institute of Immunohaematology, India), melanoma (Dr. Rosalie Luiten), and alopecia areata (Dr. Andrew McDonagh, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK). Currently, I am a collaborator in The VitGene Consortium, headed by Prof. Richard Spritz (University of Colorado, USA) and funded by the National Institutes of Health, which has identified several vitiligo-susceptibility genes.

In other recent and on-going work, I have been involved in the analysis of antibodies to the calcium-sensing receptor in patients with autoimmune parathyroid disease. Collaborations with Prof. Ed Brown (Harvard Medical School, USA), Dr. Carl Pallais (Harvard Medical School, USA), and Prof. Kai Krohn (University of Tampere, Finland) have made this research an international project.

My earlier work with Prof. Anthony Weetman and Dr. Philip Watson involved the characterisation of autoantigens and autoantibodies in autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD). Research confirmed the sodium-iodide symporter as an autoantigen and characterised patient antibodies against thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase in ATD. Current work concerns the evaluation of pendrin antibodies as diagnostic markers in ATD.


The identification of genetic susceptibility factors in autoimmune thyroid disease, Addison's disease and vitiligo.

Cytokine gene expression in autoimmune thyroid disease.

Professional Activities

Journals:
• Section Editor, British Journal of Dermatology
• Editorial Board Member, Dermatology Research and Practice
Grants:
• Member, Grants Advisory Committee, British Skin Foundation
• Grant Reviewer for Arthritis Research UK, BBSRC, British Skin Foundation
Memberships:
• South Yorkshire Clinical Local Research Network Dermatology Speciality Group
• British Society for Immunology; British Society for Investigative Dermatology; European Society for Dermatological Research; Society for Endocrinology; European Society for Pigment Cell Research

Current Projects

• Characterisation of autoantigens and antibody responses in vitiligo.
• Genome-wide association study to identify genetic susceptibility factors in vitiligo.
• Characterisation of antibody responses in melanoma patients.
• Identification of melanocyte autoantigens in alopecia areata.
• Characterisation of calcium-sensing receptor antibody responses in parathyroid autoimmune disease.
• Evaluation of pendrin autoantibodies in autoimmune thyroid disease.

Representative Publications

• Kemp EH, Emhemad S, Akhtar S, Watson PF, Gawkrodger DJ, Weetman AP. Autoantibodies against tyrosine hydroxylase in patients with non-segmental (generalised) vitiligo. Experimental Dermatology 2011;20:35-40
• Birlea SA, Jin Y, Bennett DC, Herbstman DM, Wallace MR, McCormack WT, Kemp EH, Gawkrodger DJ, Weetman AP, Picardo M, Leone G, Taïeb A, Jouary T, Ezzedine K, van Geel N, Lambert J, Overbeck A, Fain PR, Spritz RA. Comprehensive association analysis of candidate genes for generalized vitiligo supports XBP1, FOXP3 and TSLP. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2011;131:371-381.
• Waterman EA, Gawkrodger DJ, Watson PF, Weetman AP, Kemp EH. Autoantigens in vitiligo identified by the serological selection of a phage displayed melanocyte cDNA expression library. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2010;130:230-240
• Kemp EH, Weetman AP, Gawkrodger DJ. Humoral immunity. In: Vitiligo. Picardo M, Taïeb A (eds). Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany. 2010;pp248-256.
• Jin Y, Birlea SA, Fain PR, Mailloux CM, Riccardi SL, Gowan K, Holland PJ, Bennett DC, Wallace MR, McCormack WT, Kemp EH, Gawkrodger DJ, Weetman AP, Picardo M, Leone G, Taïeb A, Jouary T, Ezzedine K, van Geel N, Lambert J, Overbeck A, Spritz RA. Common variants in FOXP1 are associated with generalized vitiligo. Nature Genetics 2010;42:576-578.
• Jin Y, Birlea SA, Fain PR, Gowan K, Riccardi SL, Holland PJ, Mailloux CM, Sufit AJD, Hutton S, Amadi-Myers A, Bennett DC, Wallace MR, McCormack WT, Kemp EH, Gawkrodger DJ, Weetman AP, Picardo M, Leone G, Taïeb A, Jouary T, Ezzedine K, van Geel N, Lambert J, Overbeck A, Spritz RA. Variant TYR and autoimmunity susceptibility loci in generalized vitiligo. New England Journal of Medicine 2010;362:1686-1697.
• Kemp EH, Gavalas NG, Akhtar S, Krohn KJE, Pallais JC, Brown EM, Watson PF, Weetman AP. Mapping of human autoantibody binding sites on the calcium-sensing receptor. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2010;25:132-140.

Current Grants

2006-2008 - Sheffield Hospitals' Charitable Trust. An investigation of the effects of melanin-concentrating hormone receptor autoantibodies on cultured melanocytes. £48,860.

2007-2008 - The British Skin Foundation. Characterising autoantibody targets in vitiligo. £10,000.