Dr Emma Duncan
Technical Specialist
Emma’s work focuses on the generation of systematic and robust experimental evidence for the validation of novel cancer drug targets that have been identified through genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screens. She has successfully established medium-throughput arrayed CRISPR knockout screening workflows and developed and optimised disease-relevant phenotypic assays to identify and validate genetic vulnerabilities in breast and colorectal cancers.
Through close collaboration with academic and industry partners, the aim is to increase the likelihood of nominated gene targets being successful in drug discovery pipelines.
Emma’s previous cell biology experience includes work on cell signalling pathways, specifically the regulation of a key component of the autophagic protein degradation pathway by a family of protein kinases implicated in cancers. Additionally, she investigated the cellular and molecular function of a gene involved in a rare neurodegenerative disease, by cellular imaging of organelles and proteins in disease-relevant cell models.
My timeline
Technical Specialist - Open Targets Validation Lab
Postdoctoral Reseacher - Cell Signalling - Babraham Institute, Cambridge
PhD Cell Biology - Queen Mary University of London
Reseach Assistant - Queen Mary University of London
MSc Molecular Diagnostics - University of Nottingham
BSc Human Biology - Loughborough University