Imogen Brooks
Academic and Work Experience Prior to Sept 2020 Programme Start
At the Open University I studied for a Certificate of Higher Education in Natural Sciences. From there I went on to the University of Manchester to complete a BSc (Hons) in Developmental Biology. During my industrial experience year, I worked for 9 months at A*STAR in Dr Ernesto Guccione’s lab helping research PRDM10 activity in mouse embryonic stem cells. The summer after, I joined Peter Sarkies lab to work on selection pressure on chromatin condensation using C. elegans mutation accumulation models.
For my final year project I joined Dr Sue Kimber’s lab to study TGFβ signalling in chondrogenesis by imaging SMAD2 localisation.
PhD Programme- Year 1- MRes and Project Rotations
During my first year I wanted to gain experience in a wide number of areas within stem cell research. I started in Prof. Georgina Ellison’s lab, looking at the effect of the four key cytokines upregulated in the COVID-19 cytokine storm in cardiac cells, to investigate why COVID-19 can lead to heart damage.
In my second rotation, I joined Dr Joanna Jacków and Prof John McGrath looking at recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) and using base editor to correct mutations in RDEB patient fibroblasts. Additionally, I contributed to the writing of a book chapter on gene editing in skin disease.
In my final rotation, I joined Dr Eileen Gentleman’s group to look at the relationship between MMP-9, stiffness, and spheroid growth in breast cancer cells in synthetic hydrogels.
PhD Programme- Years 2 to 4- Doctoral Studies
For my PhD, I will be co-supervised by Prof John McGrath and Dr Joanna Jacków. My PhD project will be looking at RDEB, and autosomal recessive skin disease which results in skin fragility, blistering, and slow-healing chronic wounds. It has a high risk of mortality in young adulthood due to the prevalence of squamous cell carcinoma. The cause is mutations in the COL7A1 gene, which encodes Type VII collagen. The epidermis and the dermis are secured together in part by anchoring fibrils made of Type VII collagen.
Many attempts of the years have been made to edit the COL7A1 gene as a potential therapy for RDEB, but many mechanisms come by safety concerns. Over the course of my PhD I hope to test base editing and prime editing as tools for correcting COL7A1 with high efficiency and safety. I will look at editing patient derived iPSCs to determine if there is functional restoration of Type VII Collagen in the skin and prevent epidermal-dermal separation.
This work aims to advance the possibility of gene therapies for patients with RDEB.
