Shifaan Thowfeequ

Shifaan Thowfeequ is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in DPAG at Oxford University working with the Srinivas group. His main research interests involve understanding the genetic regulation of complex developmental processes mediated through transcription factors and how alterations in these networks could contribute to the aetiology of congenital diseases as well as drive evolution. His work in the lab centres around elucidating the mechanisms by which specific transcription factors and their downstream target genes modulate epigenetic changes and cellular processes in the early post-implantation embryo.

Shifaan read Natural Sciences at Durham University before going on to do an MRes at the University of Bath. His first introduction to developmental biology research was with studying the cellular processes involved in Xenopus tail regeneration and subsequently the transcriptional networks involved in mammalian pancreas development. He continued the latter research under the mentorship of Professors Jonathan Slack and David Tosh for his doctoral studies, developing a model for reprogramming liver cells into insulin-secreting beta-like cells. After his doctorate, Shifaan joined Professor Frank Costantini’s group at Columbia University in New York City, where he carried out research into the genetic regulation of mammalian kidney development.

In addition to research, Shifaan also takes a keen interest in science education and promoting public engagement in the sciences.