Derek graduated from the University of Dundee with a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. He obtained his PhD from the University of Glasgow studying the role of Sla1p in linking actin dynamics to the endocytic machinery in budding yeast. Following post-doctoral positions in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Cambridge and the Cardiovascular Division, King’s College London, he won a Career Development Award from the King’s College London British Heart Foundation (BHF) Centre of Research Excellence in 2010. In 2011, Derek won a BHF Intermediate Fellowship to investigate novel mechanisms of smooth muscle cell mechanotransduction. His research focusses on understanding how cells sense and respond to changes in their extracellular environment using state-of-the-art biophysical, cell biological and imaging techniques. 

PhD positions
I currently have a PhD position advertised in my lab:

The impact of matrix stiffness on smooth muscle cell contractile function

Selected publications

Prelamin A Accumulation Attenuates Rac1 Activity and Increases the Intrinsic Migrational Persistence of Aged Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells
by Lauren J. Porter, Mark R. Holt, Daniel Soong, Catherine M. Shanahan and Derek T. Warren
Cells 2016, 5(4), 41;
DOI:10.3390/cells5040041

N-terminal nesprin-2 variants regulate β-catenin signalling.
Zhang Q, Minaisah RM, Ferraro E, Li C, Porter LJ, Zhou C, Gao F, Zhang J, Rajgor D, Autore F, Shanahan CM, Warren DT.
Exp Cell Res. 2016 Jul 15;345(2):168-79.
DOI: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2016.06.008.

The Use of Polyacrylamide Hydrogels to Study the Effects of Matrix Stiffness on Nuclear Envelope Properties.
Minaisah RM, Cox S, Warren DT.
Methods Mol Biol. 2016;1411:233-9.
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3530-7_15.

Nesprin-2-dependent ERK1/2 compartmentalisation regulates the DNA damage response in vascular smooth muscle cell ageing.
Warren DT, Tajsic T, Porter LJ, Minaisah RM, Cobb A, Jacob A, Rajgor D, Zhang QP, Shanahan CM.
Cell Death Differ. 2015 Sep;22(9):1540-50.
DOI: 10.1038/cdd.2015.12.

Nesprins LINC the nucleus and cytoskeleton.
Mellad JA, Warren DT, Shanahan CM.
Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2011 Feb;23(1):47-54.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ceb.2010.11.006. Review.