David C. Michael

My current research with the Berrens group at the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine aims to understand the role of transposable elements in cell fate decisions using mouse embryonic stem cells and other models of cellular differentiation.

I had previously investigated the interplay between a lncRNA and a tumour suppressor imprinted gene, to further the development of therapeutic strategies to curb tumorigenesis and metastasis with the Murrell's lab at the University of Bath. And at Imperial College London, I worked to validate a non-coding susceptibility variant for type 2 diabetes during my graduate program in Human Molecular Genetics (MSc) at the Cebola lab, Division of Genetics and Genomics.

I look to continue to unravel the role of the regulatory genome in cell fate choices and in diseases such as cancer in order to utilize genome editing strategies and regenerative medicine for therapeutic purposes.