The group is newly formed, studying the impact on human relevant exposures of either pharmaceuticals or environmental toxins on gestation, using both in vivo and in vitro approaches. My particular interest historically has centered around genomic imprinting, a mechanism for gene dosage control that was originally discovered in Cambridge around 30 years ago. Small changes in expression of these genes has frequently been linked with profound changes in developmental outcomes, including fetal and post-natal growth, metabolism and behavior. We use a series of reporter mouse lines to longitudinally monitor imprinted gene expression, and determine the impact on these genes of gestational exposures.
