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Professor Tucker
Professor Tucker

Professor Abigail Tucker

Dean for Research

  • Professor of Development & Evolution

Research interests

  • Craniofacial

Biography

Principal Investigator and Professor of Development & Evolution, Professor Tucker holds a Wellcome Senior Investigator award to study the middle ear.

The Tucker Laboratory is interested in the development of the head, with particular focus on structures that form in association with the jaw. These include development of the dentition, development of the salivary glands, development of the jaw joint and most recently, the development of the middle ear. Formation of these structures involves complex interactions and we are interested in the signalling molecules that control patterning and shape. The research addresses questions related to human health and to evolutionary biology and uses a number of model and non-model organisms, including mouse, chick, opossum, guinea pig, shrew, bearded dragon, snake, gecko and chameleon.

Professor Tucker has a history of successful funding and has won awards for her contribution to the field of developmental biology (Cheryl Tickle Medal from the British Society of Developmental Biology 2016), New Fellow of the year award (Anatomical Society 2014) and for her supervision of PhD students (King’s faculty supervisory excellence award 2011, 2015). Her most important contributions have been in the fields of facial pattern, tooth morphogenesis, gland morphogenesis and ear development, influencing our understanding of how tissues receive instructions and achieve their normal morphology.

From this basic biology the lab has contributed to the understanding of key craniofacial disorders, such as Treacher Collins Syndrome, Di George Syndrome, Ectodermal dysplasia, LADD syndrome and Branchio-Oto-Renal syndrome.

In addition, the Tucker lab is actively involved in engaging scientifically with the public through festival stands, school visits, documentaries and museums, focusing particularly on how evolution shapes our bodies. Professor Tucker appeared in the EMMY award winning series “Your inner Fish” (PBS 2015).

Professor Tucker obtained her DPhil from Oxford University in 1996 in the lab of Prof Jonathan Slack. She then worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Guy’s Hospital, London, in the labs of Prof Paul Sharpe and Prof Andrew Lumsden. Here she started her interest in formation of the head. She set up her own lab as a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development fellow in 1999 in the MRC centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s. In 2002 she moved to the department of Craniofacial Development within the Dental Institute at King’s College London and was promoted to Professor in 2015. She is currently a holder of a Wellcome Senior Investigator Award. In addition the lab is currently funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) with addition grants from Action on Hearing Loss (RNID). Professor Tucker is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, a Fellow of the Anatomical Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is a member of the Editorial board of the Journal of Anatomy, Journal of Dental Research and Developmental Dynamics and sits on grant panels for the Wellcome Trust, Action on Hearing Loss and the Anatomical Society.

Hear from Professor Tucker on her research on the development and evolution of the face:

    Research

    Banner Tucker
    Tucker Lab

    The Tucker lab is interested in development and repair of the head with focus on tissues associated with the jaw and ear.

    Well-defined gels
    Centre for Craniofacial & Regenerative Biology

    Our research goes beyond the mouth. If we understand how the entire face and head forms, we can repair damage and regenerate cells. If we unravel the causes of diseases, we can treat patients successfully. If we solve these problems, our discoveries will improve health worldwide.

    King’s Open Research Group Initiative (KORGI)

    The King’s Open Research Group Initiative (or KORGI) is an action-oriented committee composed of an interdisciplinary mix of senior academics and experienced research staff that seek to change policy and procedures to promote transparent, accessible and reproducible research.

    From Dev Biology to Regen Medicine-hero
    From Developmental Biology to Regenerative Medicine

    Understanding organ development and tissue regeneration provides a framework for elucidating disease mechanisms as well as for developing new therapeutics.

    News

    King's hosts the Centre for Ecology & Evolution symposium

    The symposium was an opportunity for ecologists and evolutionary biologists from across London to share their research on the topic 'Climate change and...

    Centre for Ecology & Evolution symposium 2023, Bush House

    Researchers discover unique way snakes replace their teeth

    Method to detect signs of tooth replacement can also aid in identification of snake fossils in the future, even from isolated jaws.

    A skeleton of a Gaboon viper

    Professor Abigail Tucker visits Brazil to promote Women in Science project

    Dean for Research trip was part of 'Women in Science' collaboration with colleagues in PUCRS & UFRGS universities in Porto Alegre

    Tucker PUCRS

    Women in Science project welcomes Brazilian researchers to King's

    Colleagues from two universities in Porto Alegre visited King’s as part of Women in Science project, which seeks to encourage women and girls to pursue a...

    Women in science visit 2022 800x450

    REF 2021 results demonstrate impact of FoDOCS research

    Results published today show combined strength of King’s profile for high-quality, impactful research within allied and applied health research, including...

    Dental Pubic Health MSc

    Hints at jaw evolution found in marsupials and monotremes

    A connection between ear and jaw bones in marsupials and monotremes shortly after birth provides hints at the evolution of these bones in early mammals.

    First image: the cartilages in blue, second image is the expression of Collagen type II in green and Sox9 in red

    Grant with PUC

    Prof Abigail Tucker and colleagues have been awarded an Interdisciplinary Research grant from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC).

    Professor Tucker in Chile

    Two covers - Journal of Dental Research

    The Tucker Lab and the Green Lab have secured the covers for the Journal of Dental Research for the September and October issues.

    JDR Covers

    Dual Sympathetic Input into Developing Salivary Glands

    Results published in the Journal of Dental Research highlight for the first time the detailed developmental time course of TH-expressing neurons during murine...

    Embryonic salivary gland with the basement membrane outlined in red (laminin)
    Activating tooth regeneration in mice

    Features

    The Science our Women in STEMM create

    Find out about some of the activities the students and staff in the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences are up to during the Women in STEMM...

    microscopes-hero banner

      Research

      Banner Tucker
      Tucker Lab

      The Tucker lab is interested in development and repair of the head with focus on tissues associated with the jaw and ear.

      Well-defined gels
      Centre for Craniofacial & Regenerative Biology

      Our research goes beyond the mouth. If we understand how the entire face and head forms, we can repair damage and regenerate cells. If we unravel the causes of diseases, we can treat patients successfully. If we solve these problems, our discoveries will improve health worldwide.

      King’s Open Research Group Initiative (KORGI)

      The King’s Open Research Group Initiative (or KORGI) is an action-oriented committee composed of an interdisciplinary mix of senior academics and experienced research staff that seek to change policy and procedures to promote transparent, accessible and reproducible research.

      From Dev Biology to Regen Medicine-hero
      From Developmental Biology to Regenerative Medicine

      Understanding organ development and tissue regeneration provides a framework for elucidating disease mechanisms as well as for developing new therapeutics.

      News

      King's hosts the Centre for Ecology & Evolution symposium

      The symposium was an opportunity for ecologists and evolutionary biologists from across London to share their research on the topic 'Climate change and...

      Centre for Ecology & Evolution symposium 2023, Bush House

      Researchers discover unique way snakes replace their teeth

      Method to detect signs of tooth replacement can also aid in identification of snake fossils in the future, even from isolated jaws.

      A skeleton of a Gaboon viper

      Professor Abigail Tucker visits Brazil to promote Women in Science project

      Dean for Research trip was part of 'Women in Science' collaboration with colleagues in PUCRS & UFRGS universities in Porto Alegre

      Tucker PUCRS

      Women in Science project welcomes Brazilian researchers to King's

      Colleagues from two universities in Porto Alegre visited King’s as part of Women in Science project, which seeks to encourage women and girls to pursue a...

      Women in science visit 2022 800x450

      REF 2021 results demonstrate impact of FoDOCS research

      Results published today show combined strength of King’s profile for high-quality, impactful research within allied and applied health research, including...

      Dental Pubic Health MSc

      Hints at jaw evolution found in marsupials and monotremes

      A connection between ear and jaw bones in marsupials and monotremes shortly after birth provides hints at the evolution of these bones in early mammals.

      First image: the cartilages in blue, second image is the expression of Collagen type II in green and Sox9 in red

      Grant with PUC

      Prof Abigail Tucker and colleagues have been awarded an Interdisciplinary Research grant from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC).

      Professor Tucker in Chile

      Two covers - Journal of Dental Research

      The Tucker Lab and the Green Lab have secured the covers for the Journal of Dental Research for the September and October issues.

      JDR Covers

      Dual Sympathetic Input into Developing Salivary Glands

      Results published in the Journal of Dental Research highlight for the first time the detailed developmental time course of TH-expressing neurons during murine...

      Embryonic salivary gland with the basement membrane outlined in red (laminin)
      Activating tooth regeneration in mice

      Features

      The Science our Women in STEMM create

      Find out about some of the activities the students and staff in the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences are up to during the Women in STEMM...

      microscopes-hero banner