Dr Desislava Staneva

My project aims to characterise the molecular signatures that define the embryonic epiblast lineage and distinguish it from the extraembryonic lineages (trophectoderm and primitive endoderm) in early human development. In particular, I am studying the role of transcription factors, such as SOX2, in regulating epiblast gene expression, and how that changes throughout pre-implantation development. I am developing methods to map the genome-wide occupancy of transcription factors in individual cells of the embryo which will give insight into the mechanisms of cell lineage segregation in early human development.