Professor Albert Basson

About me:

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, Medical Research Council, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 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, rare 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 that are 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.

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.

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