Dr Sean Flynn

How does the non-coding genome control the development and function of the human brain, and how do changes in regulatory DNA contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders and Alzheimer's disease?

My research investigates how regulatory regions of the genome, particularly enhancers, control gene expression.

A major challenge in human genetics is that most disease-associated variants fall outside protein-coding genes, where their effects are far harder to interpret. We aim to identify regulatory elements, map them to the genes they control, and test them experimentally, combining functional genomics, chromatin biology, and CRISPR-based genome editing in human stem-cell models.

I am a Lecturer in Data Science & Genomics at the University of Exeter, where I lead a research group working at the intersection of genomics, neuroscience and genome regulation.

I trained in C. elegans neurogenetics with Mario de Bono at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, before studying genome structure and DNA regulation as a postdoctoral researcher with Shankar Balasubramanian at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute - during which time I also held a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship. My current work brings together the neurogenetics and genome-structure strands of that earlier training.

For more information on our current research visit our website. 

Current group members: 

Oliver Shiels (PhD student) 

Syed Marwan Bin Syed Jaffar (PhD student) 

Postgraduate Research opportunities: I am open to email enquiries from students with their own funding interested in a PhD or MSc by Research. I am also open to supporting students who would like to apply to the China Scholarship Council, Commonwealth Scholarship, or other PhD funding schemes.