Contact
Biography
BSc (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), University of Durham, 1992-1996 with industrial placement at Glaxo Wellcome
DPhil (Genetics), University of Oxford, 1996-2001
Postdoctoral researcher, NYU School of Medicine, 2001-2007 under Dr Ruth Lehmann
Group leader, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, 2007-2013
Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, 2013 - present
Expertise Summary
Our lab is focused on understanding development, the change from a simple egg to a complex multicellular organism. We use the fruit fly as our model system and focus on the formation of specific organs including the embryonic gonad, as well as the development of the airway (tracheal) system. These are linked by the requirement for a particular type of lipid modification enzyme and we are interested in understanding how lipid modifications are important for these processes
Teaching Summary
I am the exams officer for the biology, zoology and genetics BSc and MSci degrees.
Convenor:
Year 2: Higher Skills in the biological sciences: Bioinformatics
Year 2: Building brains
Year 4: Research Presentation Skills
Contributor:
Year 2: Developmental Biology
Year 3: Advanced Developmental Biology
Research Summary
Our lab is interested in understanding how cellular behaviour is regulated during embryonic development. We use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as our model system and combine genetics,… read more
Recent Publications
KENWRICK, KIM, MUKHERJEE, AMRITA and RENAULT, ANDREW D., 2019. Hmgcr promotes a long-range signal to attract Drosophila germ cells independently of Hedgehog JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE. 132(23), TRIPATHY R, KUNWAR PS, SANO H and RENAULT AD, 2014. Transcriptional regulation of Drosophila gonad formation. Developmental biology. 392(2), 193-208
Current Research
Our lab is interested in understanding how cellular behaviour is regulated during embryonic development. We use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as our model system and combine genetics, immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy and live imaging.
Our focus is understanding how germ cells (the cells that give rise to sperm and eggs in the adult), the tracheal system (the airway of flies) and heart cells are influenced by lipid signals. We pursue an additional strand of research into the interaction of germ cells with the somatic cells of the embryonic gonad.
We are always interested in recruiting motivated new team members who have a fascination for research and are interested in tackling fundamental questions in cell behaviour and signalling.