Cellular reprogramming and ageing

Ageing is the greatest risk factor for most degenerative diseases, yet safe and effective interventions that target the ageing process itself remain limited. At the cellular level, functional decline appears to be driven largely by non-genetic (epigenetic) mechanisms considering even age-compromised cells can be reset through reprogramming to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and used to generate young, healthy animals. As transcription factors (TFs) are master regulators of cell identity, largely determining which genes are switched on or off in a given cell state, our laboratory focuses on how TF activity and gene regulatory networks change across life, spanning organismal maturation through to ageing (see “Key Breakthroughs and Discoveries”).

To study maturation and age-associated molecular changes, and to develop strategies to improve cell function directly without pluripotency induction, we combine molecular profiling approaches (e.g. multiomics single-cell perturbation studies) with rigorous, cutting-edge computational analysis workflows. We then functionally test candidate regulators in the wet lab by modulating them across diverse cell and animal models to decode their roles and lay the groundwork for new therapeutic intervention strategies. Accordingly, the labs research is based on a partnership between computational biologists and experimental scientists, with critical input from clinicians and industry to maximise translational impact.