Overview

Albert is Professor of Neuroscience and Epigenetics at the University of Exeter. He graduated with a BSc, BSc(Hons) and MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Pretoria, South Africa and obtained his PhD in Immunology from the University of Cambridge. After post-doctoral research in Molecular Immunology at the National Institute for Medical Research (Mill Hill) with Rose Zamoyska, he trained in developmental biology and genetics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York with Jonathan Licht, King’s College London with Ivor Mason and UCSF with Gail Martin as a recipient of a Wellcome Trust International Prize Travelling Fellowship.

He started his own research group at King’s College London in 2006. Prior to joining Exeter, he was Professor of Developmental Neurobiology in the Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology and the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at King’s College London. His research has been supported by research grants from the Wellcome Trust, MRC, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), and the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation. Postgraduate students in his laboratory have been funded by the Wellcome Trust, MRC, BBSRC, SFARI, and the Anatomical Society and 12 students have completed their PhDs under his supervision. Research in his laboratory has provided insights into the mechanisms responsible for developmental birth defects, syndromes and neurodevelopmental disorders and has been published in top international journals.

His research in Exeter aims to understand how dysregulation of the epigenome affects the development and function of the brain. His group studies a number of rare genetic disorders caused by mutations in genes that encode chromatin regulators and seek to understand how epigenomic changes cause age-associated cognitive decline. Their long-term goals are to provide fundamental insights into the epigenetic mechanisms that underlie neurodevelopmental disorders and cognitive decline and to determine if targeting these mechanisms can provide novel therapeutic possibilities.

Qualifications

• PGCAP (King’s College London)
• PhD (Cantab) - Immunology
• MSc (University of Pretoria) - Biochemistry
• BSc (Hons) (University of Pretoria) - Biochemistry
• BSc (University of Pretoria) - Biochemistry

Research group links

• Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science
• Neuroscience and mental health

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Research

Research interests

Over 30% of known gene mutations that cause severe brain disorders in the human population affect genes that encode chromatin modifying or remodelling factors. The Basson lab primarily uses mouse models to understand how these mutations affect brain development and function to cause these disorders.

They are interested in specific structural brain abnormalities e.g. brain overgrowth and cerebellar hypoplasia and neuropsychiatric conditions like intellectual disability, autism and psychosis (schizophrenia).

Dysregulation of the epigenome is also associated with age-associated cognitive decline and dementia. His group is studying how reversible modification of chromatin regulates learning and memory throughout the life course to understand how chromatin abnormalities can cause cognitive decline associated with ageing.

Their long-term goals are to provide fundamental insights into the epigenetic mechanisms that underlie neurodevelopmental disorders and cognitive decline and to ask if targeting these mechanisms can provide novel therapeutic possibilities.

Research projects

A current focus is on factors that either methylate (me) chromatin at a specific amino acid residue (K4) on histone 3 (H3), or factors that “read” these H3K4me modifications and are recruited to H3K4-modified sites in the genome. These factors are implicated in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, which include CHARGE syndrome, caused by CHD7 mutations, autism and intellectual disability caused by mutations in CHD8, KMT2A and KDM5B, and Kabuki syndrome and schizophrenia caused by mutation of KMT2D. We work closely with clinical geneticists to identify and characterise new genes associated with related disorders, as well as those specifically associated with cerebellar defects e.g. PRDM13.

Specific projects:

• The role of the lysine demethylase KDM5B in ASD, intellectual disability and hippocampus-dependent learning and memory.
• Dissecting cell type-specific epigenomic changes that underlie age-associated cognitive decline.
• Pre-synaptic functions of the autism-associated factor CHD8.
• Understanding the functions of CHD7 in development of the neocortex.
• Rare chromatinopathies: New disorders, convergent epigenetic mechanisms and treatments.

Links

• Bassonlab

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Publications

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External Engagement and Impact

Awards

2009:                Royal Society International Travel Grant

2001-2003:        Wellcome Trust International Prize Travelling Fellowship

1992-1995:        Cambridge Overseas Trust Local Examinations Syndicate Scholarship

                        Overseas Research Students Award, United Kingdom

                        Emmanuel College External Research Scholarship

                        Cambridge Philosophical Society Studentship

1986-1992:        Standard Bank Scholarship

                        University of Pretoria Merit Bursaries

                        Academic Colours of the University of Pretoria

Committee/panel activities

• Director, MRC Epigenomics Rare Diseases Node

Editorial responsibilities

• Editorial Board: Cells, since 2020
• Guest Associate editor: Transcription and Translation Defects in Neurocognitive and Neurobehavioral Disorders: Towards Accurate Diagnostics and Novel Therapeutics, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences (2020)
• Guest Associate editor: Topic on chromatin remodeling in neurodevelopmental disorders, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience (2016-17)

Invited lectures

• 2022-09-07-09:   Neurodevelopmental Disorders Conference including a Helmsmoortel van der Aa syndrome patient community day, University of Antwerp, Belgium, Invited speaker.
• 2022-06-14:       Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Invited seminar.
• 2022-05-20:      Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences (KSBNS) Annual Meeting, Invited speaker.
• 2022-05-18:      Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Invited speaker.
• 2022-05-17:       Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, Invited speaker.
• 2020-07-12:       FENS 2020, Glasgow, UK (Virtual), Invited speaker.
• 2019-09-02:       23rd ESN Biennial meeting, Milan, Italy, Invited speaker.
• 2019-08-06:       Gordon Research Conference on Genome Architecture in Cell Fate and Disease, Hong Kong, Talk selected from abstracts.
• 2019-03-28:       Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences and Centre for Genomic Medicine, University of Manchester, Invited seminar.
• 2019-01-14:       Chromatin Biology Symposium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, Invited speaker.
• 2018-11-06:       Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, San Diego, CA, USA. Selected talk and Chair of Nanosymposium: Autism: From Genetic Models to Insight.
• 2018-10-19:       CHARGE family support group professional day and conference, Birmingham, UK, Invited speaker.
• 2018-09-03:       Epigenetics in the nervous system: development and disease conference, Stockholm, Sweden, unable to attend due to family tragedy.
• 2018-07-24:       Anatomical Society Summer meeting on Human Cerebral Cortex Development, University of Oxford, Short talk.
• 2017-07-31:       UFHealth Cancer Centre seminar, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, Invited seminar.
• 2017-07-27:       13th International CHARGE syndrome conference, Orlando Florida, USA, Plenary speaker.

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Teaching

NEU3008

NEU1909

NEUM002

NEUM006

R-SSU

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