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Biography

As an undergraduate, I studied Biochemistry at the University of Oxford where I stayed to complete my DPhil in the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. My thesis concerned the characterisation of the apolipoprotein genes that contribute to heart disease.

As a postdoc in Prof Gurdon s laboratory at the University of Cambridge, I used molecular biology to examine the formation of the nervous system in the frog, Xenopus, a model system for vertebrate development. During my time at Cambridge I also worked with Profs Chris Wylie and Janet Heasman at the Wellcome CRC Institute of Developmental Biology. In 1995, I became a Senior Fellow of the Medical Research Council based in the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge where I investigated the molecular mechanism by which retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A, acts as a signalling molecule.

In 2000 I was appointed as a Senior Lecturer at the ºÚÁϳԹÏ. My current research concerns the regulation of retinoic acid signalling through the corepressors, SMRT and NCoR. I am examining the role of chromatin structure in this process and I am using biochemical and molecular techniques to unravel the contribution of protein isoforms to retinoic acid signalling.

For more information about my research please visit .

Research interests

Early Xenopus development, specifically the role of retinoid signalling in the development of the nervous system. Current research projects include the non-transcriptional regulation of retinoid signalling in the gastrula embryo and the evoution and function of the NCoR and SMRT co-repressors that regulate retinoid signalling. In collaboration, examining the co-development of neural and vascular systems in the Xenopus embryo.