Cellular and Gene Editing Research

Cellular Operations

We develop novel genome editing techniques, cellular differentiation and cellular phenotyping systems, especially with respect to high-throughput investigation of gene and non-coding regulatory element function in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

  • Developing induced pluripotent stem cell models of genetic disease
  • Development of high throughput single cell and spatial genomics technologies
  • Genetic screening techniques using pooled and arrayed CRISPR/Cas9
  • Differentiation protocols of pluripotent stem cells to brain and blood-derived lineages
  • Application of screening to complex phenotypic readouts such as single cell transcriptomics or spatial genomics

We develop novel cutting-edge CRISPR screening techniques such as saturation mutagenesis, base editing, dual guide libraries and CRISPRa/i and couple these to complex phenotypic readouts such as single cell transcriptomics, spatial genomics or phenotypic assays of cellular function. We also work with and develop human cellular systems and differentiation protocols of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) in both 2D and 3D to better model human disease states in vitro. The systems developed will be applied to probe the genetic basis of cellular function in health and disease and understand the underlying cell biology.

We have a particular interest in the genetic causes of neurodegeneration, especially Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and use some of these screening methodologies to identify the genes involved and understand the consequences of genetic mutations as part of two OpenTargets projects, Neuroinflammation and NeuroID.

Core team

Photo of Mrs Michaela Bruntraeger

Mrs Michaela Bruntraeger

Senior Research Assistant

Photo of Dr Yixi Chen

Dr Yixi Chen

Postdoctoral Fellow

Photo of Dr Sarah Cooper

Dr Sarah Cooper

Senior Staff Scientist

Photo of Dr Daniel Gitterman

Dr Daniel Gitterman

Staff Scientist

Photo of Dr Aleks Gontarczyk

Dr Aleks Gontarczyk

Advanced Research Assistant

Photo of Sho Iwama

Sho Iwama

Advanced Research Assistant

Photo of Dr Valentina Migliori

Dr Valentina Migliori

Staff Scientist

Photo of Dr Diego A. Peretti

Dr Diego A. Peretti

Postdoctoral Fellow

Photo of Dr Kenny Roberts

Dr Kenny Roberts

Senior Staff Scientist

Photo of Dr Sam Washer

Dr Sam Washer

Postdoctoral Fellow

Photo of Dr Qianxin Wu

Dr Qianxin Wu

Staff Scientist

Previous core team members

Photo of Dr Erica Bello

Dr Erica Bello

Postdoctoral Fellow

Photo of Thomas Burgold

Thomas Burgold

Staff Scientist

Photo of Dr Meg Byrne

Dr Meg Byrne

Senior Research Assistant

Photo of Shikha Kataria

Shikha Kataria

Advanced Research Assistant

Photo of Jeremy Schwartzentruber

Jeremy Schwartzentruber

Former statistical geneticist at Open Targets

Related groups

Partners

We work with the following groups

External

OpenTargets

Open Targets is an innovative, large-scale, multi-year, public-private partnership that uses human genetics and genomics data for systematic drug target identification and prioritisation.

 

Publications

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