I am a Lecturer in Functional Genomics in the Respiratory Research Group at the University of Manchester. My research interest is to investigate the molecular mechanisms (both epigenetic and genetic) underlying the heritability of asthma. I am a co-investigator on the unselected population based birth cohort: MAAS (The Manchester Asthma and Allergy Study). MAAS has the optimum study design to investigate complex chronic disorders which start in early life (population-based, with careful longitudinal phenotyping and contemporaneous measurement of environmental exposures). My group includes a PhD student and Postdoctoral Researcher who are investigating the functional role of SNPs in candidate genes that are associated with the development of asthma. Our poor understanding of the heritability of asthma necessitates the use of Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS). I am analysing GWAS data from the MAAS cohort to uncover genes associated with the development of asthma. In addition I am a Principle Investigator on an ongoing research project funded by the British Lung Foundation. This project is designed to investigate the role of epigenetics in the development of asthma using Illumina infinium arrays.

John Curtin’s postdoctoral research focused on the genomics of Melanoma. His work demonstrated that melanoma consists of genetically distinct subgroups depending on sun exposure and anatomic site of the tumour. His subsequent discovery of frequent activation of a novel melanoma oncogene in some of these melanoma subtypes has potentially provided a new therapeutic avenue for some patients with melanoma. This oncogene (c-kit) is also a rational therapeutic target since a compound (Imatinib) that targets it is already approved for treatment in other cancers.

PhD scholarship in Molecular Genetics.Scientist in Genetics Research.