Professor Andrew Crosby

About me:

Professor Crosby leads the Rare Disease and Community Genomic Research group at the University of Exeter Medical School alongside Professor Emma Baple, with whom he works closely. Professor Crosby trained at the Universities of Birmingham (BSc) and Manchester (PhD) before moving to St. George’s University London to undertake his postgraduate training, where he rapidly progressed to a Personal Chair and subsequently Head of the Genetics Research Centre. Professor Crosby and his team left London in 2013 to join the rapidly expanding Genomics Research group at the Wellcome-Wolfson Research Centre, where he is now based.

Interests:

Over the last 20 years Professor Crosby’s research has focussed on the investigation of the genetic and molecular basis of inherited conditions. His group has discovered >70 new monogenic inherited disorders, most of which entail eurolongical conditions. He is recognised internationally for his research to define the molecular causes of motor neurone degenerative diseases in particular the hereditary spastic paraplegias, for which his group has defined >20 new disease genes. These genetic discoveries have identified new neurodegenerative disease mechanisms providing important insights into molecular themes which may be common to multiple neurodegenerative disorders in particular motor neurone diseases, which are currently an active area of investigation.

Many of the families involved in this research form part of long-running community clinical-genetic research programmes undertaken alongside Professor Emma Baple, in particular amongst the Amish populations of the USA (see www.WOHproject.com). The UK research team undertake these studies in close partnership with local clinicians, special education teachers and other healthcare workers who provide care and support for Amish and other Anabaptist families locally. As well as empowering diagnostic services in the region, their genetic studies provide the scientific insight important for the development and investigation of new therapeutic approaches for conditions which occur in the community, as well as globally.

Qualifications:

• PhD (University Manchester)
• BSc (University of Birmingham)