Submitted by Christina Rozeik on Thu, 28/05/2020 - 11:37
Professor Wolf Reik has been appointed the Babraham Institute's Acting Director with immediate effect, following the sad loss of Professor Michael Wakelam at the end of March. Professor Reik is an internationally renowned expert in the field of epigenetics and has led the Institute's Epigenetics research programme since 2008. He has been the Institute's Associate Director since 2004. He is also a member of the Cambridge Reproduction SRI steering committee.
Professor Reik's research centres on understanding the role of epigenetics (non-sequence altering modifications to DNA or chromatin that regulate gene expression) in establishing cell fate and identity during mammalian development and also the process of epigenetic reprogramming. The research interests of his lab span understanding the epigenetic processes governing the earliest steps of development, how pluripotency is maintained in stem cells and conversely how cell identity is established during differentiation. More recently the lab is interested in how the epigenome degrades during ageing, and whether there are ways of reversing this decay. They have developed new technologies for single cell 'multi-omics' sequencing which allows unprecedented insights into cell fate changes during development or ageing. Professor Reik enjoys collaborating with scientists in the Institute and outside, and leads a Wellcome-funded consortium that studies cell fate decisions during mouse gastrulation and organ development.
Professor Reik commented: "I am really honoured by this appointment; I look forward to working with everyone at the Institute, the Campus and with BBSRC. After Michael’s sad death, my primary aim is to bring us back to our labs in a safe and considerate fashion, and to jointly tackle the opportunities and challenges for the science of the Institute going forward strongly into the future."
Photo: Professor Wolf Reik in his lab. Used courtesy of the Cambridge Independent.
More information: https://www.babraham.ac.uk/news/2020/05/wolf-reik-appointed-acting-director-babraham-institute