Dr Marika Charalambous

Biography

My research career has focused primarily on the relationship between epigenetic gene dosage control and developmental physiology. Much of my work has utilised imprinted genes in the mouse as experimental models since the epigenetic modulation of these exquisitely dosage-sensitive genes has important consequences for prenatal growth and development in mouse and man.

During my postdoctoral work I investigated the actions of imprinted genes on mouse chromosome 12 in the development of brown adipose tissue (Ferguson-Smith lab, University of Cambridge); described a mouse model with defects in placental development and growth as a result of the loss of function of the imprinted Grb10gene (Ward lab, University of Bath).

In addition, I undertook a training postdoctoral position in metabolic medicine in order to link my interest in prenatal growth and development with lifelong outcomes on metabolic health (Withers Lab, Imperial College London). I was appointed to an Early Careers Fellowship at the Centre for Endocrinology at Queen Mary University of London in early 2013 and became a Senior Lecturer in 2015. I joined the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics in October 2017.