My main research interest is the understanding of how core histones and their variant and/or modified forms control gene regulation. Previous research has shown that the distribution of modified histones throughout the genome can control gene regulation by altering the chromatin structure at key points. We use a variety of mapping techniques to elucidate this in mouse embryonic induced stem cells as well as Xenupos embryos during early devleopmental stages.

I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology from Portsmouth Polytechnic before gaining my PhD in 1995 in the laboratory of Dr Sarah Newbury on work on “Factors affecting the control of maternal messenger RNA stability in early Drosphila development.

I began my first post-doctoral position in the laboratory of Professor Colyn Crane-Robinson using ChIP (chromatin immune-precipitation) assays to map the genomic locations of modified histones at housekeeping and tissue specific genes. The work continued to map the modified histones across two chicken loci (globin & lysozyme) in different developmental stages of the erythroid and myeloid cell lineages.

I took up a position of Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences in 2004.