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Dr Thomas Massey
WCAT Fellow, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences
Overview
I am a clinical academic Fellow in Neurology in the School of Medicine.
My research interest is the molecular pathogenesis of Huntington's disease and other repeat expansion disorders. Most of these conditions are characterised by progressive neurodegeneration and none currently has a disease-modifying treatment.
The overarching aim of my research programme is to leverage insights from human genetics, cell models and biochemistry to identify new therapeutic targets that can cut across a number of repeat expansion disorders. We use a combination of next-generation sequencing techniques, induced pluripotent stem cell models, CRISPR/Cas9 editing and biochemistry to go from clinical phenotypes to molecular mechanism.
As a Neurologist I see patients in clinic and have been heavily involved in clinical trials in Huntington's disease. My hope is that by understanding the molecular details of repeat expansion disorders we can develop novel treatments with the potential to slow or prevent these incurable diseases.
My work is supported by the Guarantors of Brain, Academy of Medical Sciences, Medical Research Council (post-doctoral research training Fellowship), Association of British Neurologists (Patrick Berthoud Charitable Trust Fellowship), Brain Research Trust and the European Huntington's Disease Network.
Publication
2024
- Kim, K. et al. 2024. Posttranscriptional regulation of FAN1 by miR-124-3p at rs3512 underlies onset-delaying genetic modification in Huntington's disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121(16), article number: e2322924121. (10.1073/pnas.2322924121)
- Massey, T. H. and McLauchlan, D. J. 2024. Huntington's disease: A clinical primer for acute and general physicians. Clinical Medicine 24(2), article number: 100200. (10.1016/j.clinme.2024.100200)
- Wheeler, V. C., Stone, J. C., Massey, T. H. and Mouro Pinto, R. 2024. The instability of the Huntington's disease CAG repeat mutation. In: Yang, X. W., Thompson, L. M. and Heiman, M. eds. Huntington's disease. Pathogenic mechanisms and implications for therapeutics. London, UK: Academic Press, pp. 85-115., (10.1016/B978-0-323-95672-7.00003-0)
- Hong, E. P. et al. 2024. Modification of Huntington's disease by short tandem repeats. Brain Communications 6(2), article number: fcae016. (10.1093/braincomms/fcae016)
2023
- Stöberl, N. et al. 2023. Mutant huntingtin confers cell-autonomous phenotypes on Huntington’s disease iPSC-derived microglia. Scientific Reports 13, article number: 20477. (10.1038/s41598-023-46852-z)
2022
- Taylor, A. et al. 2022. Repeat Detector: versatile sizing of expanded tandem repeats and identification of interrupted alleles from targeted DNA sequencing. NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics 4(4), article number: lqac089. (10.1093/nargab/lqac089)
- Lobanov, S. et al. 2022. Huntington’s disease age at motor onset is modified by the tandem hexamer repeat in TCERG1. npj Genomic Medicine 7, article number: 53. (10.1038/s41525-022-00317-w)
- Lee, J. et al. 2022. Genetic modifiers of Huntington disease differentially influence motor and cognitive domains. American Journal of Human Genetics 109(5), pp. 885-899. (10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.03.004)
- McAllister, B. et al. 2022. Exome sequencing of individuals with Huntington’s disease implicates FAN1 nuclease activity in slowing CAG expansion and disease onset. Nature Neuroscience 25, pp. 446-457. (10.1038/s41593-022-01033-5)
- Cooper, M., Gale, K., Langley, K., Broughton, T., Massey, T. H., Hall, N. J. and Jones, C. R. 2022. How to do it: the neurological consultation with an autistic patient. Practical Neurology 22, pp. 120-125. (10.1136/practneurol-2020-002856)
2021
- Steventon, J. et al. 2021. Changes in white matter microstructure and MRI-derived cerebral blood flow after one-week of exercise training. Scientific Reports 11, article number: 22061. (10.1038/s41598-021-01630-7)
- Massey, T. H. and Robertson, N. P. 2021. Medication-overuse headache: causes, consequences and management. Journal of Neurology 268(9), pp. 3505–3507. (10.1007/s00415-021-10720-5)
- McAllister, B. et al. 2021. Timing and impact of psychiatric, cognitive, and motor abnormalities in Huntington disease. Neurology 96(19), pp. e2395-e2406. (10.1212/WNL.0000000000011893)
- Hong, E. P. et al. 2021. Association analysis of chromosome X to identify genetic modifiers of Huntington's disease. Journal of Huntington's Disease 10(3), pp. 367-375. (10.3233/JHD-210485)
2020
- Cunningham, A., Fung, W., Massey, T., Hall, J., Owen, M., Van Den Bree, M. and Peall, K. 2020. Movement disorder phenotypes in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Movement Disorders 35(7), pp. 1272-1274. (10.1002/mds.28078)
- Ellis, N. et al. 2020. Genetic risk underlying psychiatric and cognitive symptoms in Huntington’s Disease. Biological Psychiatry 87(9), pp. 857-865. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.12.010)
- Massey, T. H. and Robertson, N. P. 2020. Restless legs syndrome: causes and consequences. Journal of Neurology 267(2), pp. 575-577. (10.1007/s00415-019-09682-6)
- McAllister, B. et al. 2020. The onset and prevalence of motor and psychiatric symptoms in Huntington’s disease. [Online]. bioRxiv. (10.1101/2020.05.26.116798)
2019
- Lee, J. et al. 2019. CAG repeat not polyglutamine length determines timing of Huntington’s disease onset. Cell 178(4), pp. 887-099.e14. (10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.036)
- Cronin, T., Rosser, A. and Massey, T. 2019. Clinical presentation and features of Juvenile-onset Huntington's disease: a systematic review. Journal of Huntington's Disease 8(2), pp. 171-179. (10.3233/JHD-180339)
2018
- Massey, T., McAllister, B. and Jones, L. 2018. Methods for assessing DNA repair and repeat expansion in Huntington's Disease. In: Precious, S. V., Rosser, A. E. and Dunnett, S. B. eds. Huntington’s Disease., Vol. 1780. Methods in Molecular Biology Humana Press, pp. 483-495., (10.1007/978-1-4939-7825-0_22)
- Massey, T. and Robertson, N. 2018. Repurposing drugs to treat neurological diseases. Journal of Neurology 265(2), pp. 446-448. (10.1007/s00415-018-8732-z)
- Massey, T. and Jones, L. 2018. The central role of DNA damage and repair in CAG repeat diseases. Disease Models & Mechanisms 11(1), article number: dmm031930. (10.1242/dmm.031930)
2017
- Holmans, P. A., Massey, T. H. and Jones, L. 2017. Genetic modifiers of Mendelian disease: Huntington's disease and the trinucleotide repeat disorders. Human Molecular Genetics 26(R2), pp. R83-R90. (10.1093/hmg/ddx261)
- van de Zande, N. A. et al. 2017. Clinical characterization of dystonia in adult patients with Huntington's disease. European Journal of Neurology 24(9), pp. 1140-1147. (10.1111/ene.13349)
- Massey, T. and Robertson, N. 2017. Why antisense could make sense for neurodegeneration. Journal of Neurology 264(7), pp. 1542-1544. (10.1007/s00415-017-8515-y)
- Massey, T., Smith, R., Sadiq Shaheena, S., Overton, C. and Pearson, O. R. 2017. Rescue of severe brain and cervical cord IRIS by restarting natalizumab in a pregnant MS patient. Neurology 88(7), pp. 711-713. (10.1212/WNL.0000000000003604)
2016
- Massey, T. and Robertson, N. 2016. Zika virus and neurology: proving cause and effect. Journal of Neurology 263(6), pp. 1255-1257. (10.1007/s00415-016-8165-5)
- Massey, T., Pickersgill, T. T. and Peall, K. J. 2016. Nitrous oxide misuse and vitamin B12 deficiency. BMJ Case Reports, article number: 215728. (10.1136/bcr-2016-215728)
Adrannau llyfrau
- Wheeler, V. C., Stone, J. C., Massey, T. H. and Mouro Pinto, R. 2024. The instability of the Huntington's disease CAG repeat mutation. In: Yang, X. W., Thompson, L. M. and Heiman, M. eds. Huntington's disease. Pathogenic mechanisms and implications for therapeutics. London, UK: Academic Press, pp. 85-115., (10.1016/B978-0-323-95672-7.00003-0)
- Massey, T., McAllister, B. and Jones, L. 2018. Methods for assessing DNA repair and repeat expansion in Huntington's Disease. In: Precious, S. V., Rosser, A. E. and Dunnett, S. B. eds. Huntington’s Disease., Vol. 1780. Methods in Molecular Biology Humana Press, pp. 483-495., (10.1007/978-1-4939-7825-0_22)
Erthyglau
- Kim, K. et al. 2024. Posttranscriptional regulation of FAN1 by miR-124-3p at rs3512 underlies onset-delaying genetic modification in Huntington's disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121(16), article number: e2322924121. (10.1073/pnas.2322924121)
- Massey, T. H. and McLauchlan, D. J. 2024. Huntington's disease: A clinical primer for acute and general physicians. Clinical Medicine 24(2), article number: 100200. (10.1016/j.clinme.2024.100200)
- Hong, E. P. et al. 2024. Modification of Huntington's disease by short tandem repeats. Brain Communications 6(2), article number: fcae016. (10.1093/braincomms/fcae016)
- Stöberl, N. et al. 2023. Mutant huntingtin confers cell-autonomous phenotypes on Huntington’s disease iPSC-derived microglia. Scientific Reports 13, article number: 20477. (10.1038/s41598-023-46852-z)
- Taylor, A. et al. 2022. Repeat Detector: versatile sizing of expanded tandem repeats and identification of interrupted alleles from targeted DNA sequencing. NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics 4(4), article number: lqac089. (10.1093/nargab/lqac089)
- Lobanov, S. et al. 2022. Huntington’s disease age at motor onset is modified by the tandem hexamer repeat in TCERG1. npj Genomic Medicine 7, article number: 53. (10.1038/s41525-022-00317-w)
- Lee, J. et al. 2022. Genetic modifiers of Huntington disease differentially influence motor and cognitive domains. American Journal of Human Genetics 109(5), pp. 885-899. (10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.03.004)
- McAllister, B. et al. 2022. Exome sequencing of individuals with Huntington’s disease implicates FAN1 nuclease activity in slowing CAG expansion and disease onset. Nature Neuroscience 25, pp. 446-457. (10.1038/s41593-022-01033-5)
- Cooper, M., Gale, K., Langley, K., Broughton, T., Massey, T. H., Hall, N. J. and Jones, C. R. 2022. How to do it: the neurological consultation with an autistic patient. Practical Neurology 22, pp. 120-125. (10.1136/practneurol-2020-002856)
- Steventon, J. et al. 2021. Changes in white matter microstructure and MRI-derived cerebral blood flow after one-week of exercise training. Scientific Reports 11, article number: 22061. (10.1038/s41598-021-01630-7)
- Massey, T. H. and Robertson, N. P. 2021. Medication-overuse headache: causes, consequences and management. Journal of Neurology 268(9), pp. 3505–3507. (10.1007/s00415-021-10720-5)
- McAllister, B. et al. 2021. Timing and impact of psychiatric, cognitive, and motor abnormalities in Huntington disease. Neurology 96(19), pp. e2395-e2406. (10.1212/WNL.0000000000011893)
- Hong, E. P. et al. 2021. Association analysis of chromosome X to identify genetic modifiers of Huntington's disease. Journal of Huntington's Disease 10(3), pp. 367-375. (10.3233/JHD-210485)
- Cunningham, A., Fung, W., Massey, T., Hall, J., Owen, M., Van Den Bree, M. and Peall, K. 2020. Movement disorder phenotypes in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Movement Disorders 35(7), pp. 1272-1274. (10.1002/mds.28078)
- Ellis, N. et al. 2020. Genetic risk underlying psychiatric and cognitive symptoms in Huntington’s Disease. Biological Psychiatry 87(9), pp. 857-865. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.12.010)
- Massey, T. H. and Robertson, N. P. 2020. Restless legs syndrome: causes and consequences. Journal of Neurology 267(2), pp. 575-577. (10.1007/s00415-019-09682-6)
- Lee, J. et al. 2019. CAG repeat not polyglutamine length determines timing of Huntington’s disease onset. Cell 178(4), pp. 887-099.e14. (10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.036)
- Cronin, T., Rosser, A. and Massey, T. 2019. Clinical presentation and features of Juvenile-onset Huntington's disease: a systematic review. Journal of Huntington's Disease 8(2), pp. 171-179. (10.3233/JHD-180339)
- Massey, T. and Robertson, N. 2018. Repurposing drugs to treat neurological diseases. Journal of Neurology 265(2), pp. 446-448. (10.1007/s00415-018-8732-z)
- Massey, T. and Jones, L. 2018. The central role of DNA damage and repair in CAG repeat diseases. Disease Models & Mechanisms 11(1), article number: dmm031930. (10.1242/dmm.031930)
- Holmans, P. A., Massey, T. H. and Jones, L. 2017. Genetic modifiers of Mendelian disease: Huntington's disease and the trinucleotide repeat disorders. Human Molecular Genetics 26(R2), pp. R83-R90. (10.1093/hmg/ddx261)
- van de Zande, N. A. et al. 2017. Clinical characterization of dystonia in adult patients with Huntington's disease. European Journal of Neurology 24(9), pp. 1140-1147. (10.1111/ene.13349)
- Massey, T. and Robertson, N. 2017. Why antisense could make sense for neurodegeneration. Journal of Neurology 264(7), pp. 1542-1544. (10.1007/s00415-017-8515-y)
- Massey, T., Smith, R., Sadiq Shaheena, S., Overton, C. and Pearson, O. R. 2017. Rescue of severe brain and cervical cord IRIS by restarting natalizumab in a pregnant MS patient. Neurology 88(7), pp. 711-713. (10.1212/WNL.0000000000003604)
- Massey, T. and Robertson, N. 2016. Zika virus and neurology: proving cause and effect. Journal of Neurology 263(6), pp. 1255-1257. (10.1007/s00415-016-8165-5)
- Massey, T., Pickersgill, T. T. and Peall, K. J. 2016. Nitrous oxide misuse and vitamin B12 deficiency. BMJ Case Reports, article number: 215728. (10.1136/bcr-2016-215728)
Gwefannau
- McAllister, B. et al. 2020. The onset and prevalence of motor and psychiatric symptoms in Huntington’s disease. [Online]. bioRxiv. (10.1101/2020.05.26.116798)
Biography
I moved to Cardiff in 2013 as a Welsh Clinical Academic Training Fellow in Neurology. I completed my training in October 2021 and joined the Specialist Register. I am currently supported by a Guarantors of Brain Fellowship and Academy of Medical Sciences starter grant. I have previously been supported by clinical research training Fellowships from the MRC (2016-2019), and the Patrick Berthoud Charitable Trust/Association of British Neurologists (2016-2019).
I trained in Medicine at Oxford University, graduating in 2009 with Distinction, and passed MRCP (UK) in 2012 and the Neurology Specialty Certificate Examination in 2020.
Prior to Medicine I studied Biochemistry, first as an undergraduate at Cambridge University and then as a graduate student at Oxford University. I was awarded my D.Phil in 2004.
Contact Details
MasseyT1@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29206 88353
Hadyn Ellis Building, Room 2.44, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
+44 29206 88353
Hadyn Ellis Building, Room 2.44, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
