Members

Kasper D. Rasmussen, CRUK fellow and Group Leader

As a PhD student, I joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Mouse Biology Unit where I developed an expertise in transgenic mouse genetics and hematology. In 2012, I moved to the group of Prof. Kristian Helin to investigate the role of DNA demethylation in leukemia and develop my skills in functional genomics. Most recently, I came to the UK to set up a research group in Dundee to study how life-threatening blood cancers, such as leukaemia, arise in the blood-forming stem cells in the body. By improving our understanding of the biology of the earliest gene mutations that promote these diseases, I hope my team’s research will lead to new treatment strategies better directed against leukaemia to improve patient outcomes.

Amanda Baizan Edge, Postdoctoral Fellow

I joined the Babraham Institute as a PhD student in 2012 to study the epigenetic mechanisms and cell signalling pathways that guide antibody recombination. In 2016, I moved to the Hutton Institute as a Postdoctoral Researcher to develop a bioinformatics pipeline to detect viral sequences from metagenomic samples. I am currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr Kasper Rasmussen’s lab, investigating the interplay between DNA methylation and enhancer function. Mutations in the machinery involved in DNA methylation have been found as precursors to several blood cancers, prompting us to investigate the underpinning mechanisms which lead to disease.

Anna Fleming, PhD student

As an undergraduate, I studied biochemistry at the University of Manchester. After graduating I moved to Bristol and spent a year working in industry before joining Prof. Stefan Roberts at the University of Bristol for a master’s by research. My work in Bristol investigated transcriptional regulation by the transcription factor WT1. In 2019, I joined Dr Kasper Rasmussen’s group as a PhD student, working to identify interacting partners of TET2 and investigate their roles together in blood cells. By identifying novel TET2 interactors we hope to improve understanding of the regulation of TET2 activity and also potentially uncover novel therapeutic targets.

 

Lab Alumni

Jess Newport, MSci student – Nov 2019 to May 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samuel Taylor, MRC PhD rotation student – Jan 2020 to April 2020

Peter Corral, Wellcome Trust PhD rotation student – Jan 2019 to April 2019