Dr Garan Jones
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
g.jones@exeter.ac.uk
College House 1.07
College House, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK
Overview
I joined Public Health England (formerly the Health Protection Agency) in 2008 as a Bioinformatician working with the European Working Group on Legionella Infection (EWGLI), specialising in sequence based typing of Legionella. In late 2009, I moved groups to the Gastrointestinal, Enteric and Zoonotic Infections (GEZI) department as a Bioinformatician focused on the epidemiology of various pathogen outbreaks including Escherichia Coli, Campylobacter Jejuni and zoonotic pathogens. This was followed in 2012 with a relocation to the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge as a Senior Developer, before moving to Exeter to complete an MRes in Bioinformatics. Following which I spent 4 years working in Clinical Bioinformatics with the NHS based at the Royal Devon & Exeter, mainly working on Targeted / Exome Next Generation Sequencing and rare disease analysis.
I completed a PhD with Prof. Melzer's group (co-supervised by Dr. Luke Pilling) on Ageing and the effects of muscle wastage or sacropenia with age at the University of Exeter. Then in 2021 moved to the University of Bristol to work on the maternal genetic contributions to Cleft palette, before returning to the University of Exeter in early 2022 to take up a post as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow researching various cancer types using methylation and long read sequencing data as part of Prof. Chrissie Thirlwell's group.
My research focuses on the genomics and transcriptomics of Neuroendocrine tumours, with a particular focus on long read sequencing technologies and methylation arrays, in order to study structural variants and novel splicing isomers.
Qualifications
- BSc(Hons) Molecular Cell Biology, University of Southampton
- PgDip Medical Molecular Genetics, Aberdeen University
- MSc Computer Science, University of Swansea
- MRes Bioinformatics, University of Exeter
- PhD Medical Studies, University of Exeter
Research
Research interests
Neuroendocrine and various other cancer types, utilising Oxford Nanopore long read data and EPIC arrays.
UK Biobank analysis looking at the associations between genotypes and phenotypes related to aging, such as Sarcopenia and low lung function.
Inflammation and its impact on aging; Rare disease and sequencing; Bioinformatics; Research software development
Research networks
UK and Ireland Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (UKINETS)
CHARGE (Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology)
Research grants
- 2022 Neuroendocrine Cancer UK
ONT long read sequencing of transcriptomes of SI-NET / Pancreatic NET and controls for discovery of dysregulation of alternate splicing.
Publications
Journal articles
External Engagement and Impact
External positions
Lead Editor - STP Clinical Bioinformatics 2019-2020 curriculum review
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Review syllabus content for 3-year National Healthcare School MSc training scheme
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Production of update syllabus for 2020 onwards
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Act as facilitator for stakeholder meetings
Other
Association of Clinical Genomics member / British Society for Genetic Medicine member
Bioinformatics representative for the ACGS Workforce development committee 2015-2017