Shaun studied BSc Biomedical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). He developed an interest in gene regulation, and explored different aspects of this topic during his degree via his research placements.
He began with a summer internship in the lab of Dr. Christoph Engl at Queen Mary University of London, where he assisted with researching the affects of transcriptional attenuation on heterogeneity in bacterial gene expression. He next undertook a placement year in Dr. James Briscoe’s lab at the Francis Crick Institute, where his project was to investigate cis-regulatory control of gene silencing in neural progenitors. This was immediately followed by an 8-week Genetics Society-funded studentship in Dr. Miguel Branco’s lab at QMUL, where he investigated the role of transposon enhancers in bringing about rapid evolutionary changes in placental development.
At the Delas Lab, Shaun will be investigating how the kinetics of transcription factor exploration and binding relate to CRE activity (enhancer/silencer), gene expression and fate decisions, using both genomic and imaging approaches. This work is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.