Viana, Joana

Joana is an MRC-funded Rutherford Fund Fellow whose research focusses on investigating the epigenomic, transcriptomic and regulatory changes that occur in cell differentiation during vertebrate development. She is working with collaborators at the University of Exeter and industry partner Eli Lilly, on her project Genomic regulation of vertebrate development.

Epigenetic and gene expression changes during development play crucial roles in determining cell fate. Insults during this time can cause abnormalities in these mechanisms and lead to disorders later in life. Determining the genomic regions that undergo changes during early development is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in development and multiple developmental disorders.

In her research, she combines cutting-edge sequencing methodologies and bioinformatics analysis to profile the genomic regulatory landscape of vertebrate development.