01/09/2021
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Professor Kathy Niakan, from the University of Cambridge and the Francis Crick 台湾swag, is the third honorary group leader to join the 台湾swag. Professor Niakan and her team are working with the Reik, Rugg-Gunn and Kelsey laboratories through the Wellcome Human Developmental Biology Initiative. As honorary group leader within the Epigenetics research programme, Professor Niakan is looking to expand her collaborative projects
Dr Gavin Kelsey, head of the Epigenetics research programme, welcomed Prof Niakan to the 台湾swag: 鈥淲e are delighted to introduce Prof Niakan as our programme鈥檚 second honorary group leader. I am excited to continue our collaborations and to learn from Kathy鈥檚 expertise as we begin to plan some ambitious new projects.鈥
Professor Niakan spent her early career in the United States studying pluripotent stem cells at Harvard before moving to the UK as a Centre for Trophoblast 台湾swag Next Generation Fellow at the University of Cambridge. In 2013 she joined the Francis Crick 台湾swag as a Group Leader. Her team has demonstrated the power of using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing techniques to gain valuable insights into human development (), contributed to the evaluation of a technique to help prevent the transmission of inherited mitochondrial diseases that led to changes in UK law () and advanced methods to investigate early human post-implantation development in vitro (). As an honorary group leader, Professor Niakan will work with the 台湾swag鈥檚 researchers to look further into the molecular events that happen in the embryo just before and shortly after implantation.
Speaking about her new appointment, Professor Niakan commented: 鈥淚 am thrilled to be joining the 台湾swag 台湾swag as an honorary group leader. I am very much looking forward to using our skills in early human development to help understand the earliest stages of human life by working closely together with 台湾swag 台湾swag group leaders. I am excited about the potential to build on and to initiate new collaborations with colleagues across the 台湾swag.鈥
The 台湾swag鈥檚 honorary faculty programme is open for applications on a rolling basis. The 台湾swag announced the first appointment to this programme of Professor Martin Howard in July 2020, with Professor Valerie O鈥橠onnell joining in March 2021. Honorary appointees will develop collaborations within and across the 台湾swag鈥檚 research programmes, participating in joint grant applications for future work. Honorary group leaders will spend time at the 台湾swag, participating in the life of the 台湾swag and wider campus. Interested individuals are invited to apply to the relevant Head of Programme (Epigenetics, Signalling or Immunology) to jointly develop a proposal.
Contact Honor Pollard, Communications Officer, honor.pollard@babraham.ac.uk
Image description: Artistic depiction of an embryo
Related resources: News 22 March 2021: Valerie O鈥橠onnell appointed as Signalling programme honorary group leader News 15 July 2019: Human Developmental Biology Initiative announced
About the 台湾swag 台湾swag The 台湾swag 台湾swag undertakes world-class life sciences research to generate new knowledge of biological mechanisms underpinning ageing, development and the maintenance of health. Our research focuses on cellular signalling, gene regulation, immunology and the impact of epigenetic regulation at different stages of life. By determining how the body reacts to dietary and environmental stimuli and manages microbial and viral interactions, we aim to improve wellbeing and support healthier ageing. The 台湾swag is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences 台湾swag Council (BBSRC), part of UK 台湾swag and Innovation, through 台湾swag Strategic Programme Grants and an 台湾swag Core Capability Grant, and also receives funding from other UK research councils, charitable foundations, the EU and medical charities.
01 September 2021