About me
Experience:
Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (Imperial College London and MRC LMS)
2014 -
2020
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Francis Crick Institute)
2012 -
2013
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Brisbane, Australia.)
2008 -
2012
PhD Developmental Biology (University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
2006 -
2007
Research Assistant (Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Brisbane, Australia)
2004 -
BSc (Hons) Class I Developmental Biology (University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
2002 -
2004
Research focus:
We wish to understand how the body plan is put together during development. How do we make the right cell type, at the right position, and in the right proportion? These principles underpin healthy development, and inform fields such as regenerative medicine. To address these important questions, we study how cells control their identity and the role of non-coding DNA elements (such as enhancers) in this process.
Joined LMS:
2020
About me:
I am a developmental biologist. I joined the LMS excited by the emphasis on ambitious, field-defining discovery science that extends across multiple disciplines. In every area of the LMS, you'll find outstanding people following their passion with excitement, curiosity, and a drive to do their best possible work. It's highly motivating to work in such an environment.I chair the Athena Swan Careers and Development Working Group at the LMS, and co-chair the 3Rs advisory group at Imperial College London. In 2023, I was elected to the British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB) committee.
My awards and achievements:
Sir Henry Dale Fellow (awarded 2020 by Wellcome); Sammy Lee Medal (awarded 2017 by Young Embryologist Network)
Impact of my work:
We have updated textbook views on how the nervous system is regionalised during development (Metzis et al., 2018; PMID: 30343898; Needham & Metzis 2022 PMID: 35257719). We have identified regulatory mechanisms that establish cell types in the posterior body (Amblard et al., BioRxiv 2024; Blassberg et al., 2022 PMID: 35550614; Exelby et al., 2021 PMID: 33547135) and during human spinal cord development (Semprich et al., 2022 PMID: 36455041).