Dr Margaret Town

Graduating in Microbiology I started out as a research technician in bacteriology. Following the (then) rising interest in molecular biology I joined the team applying this new discipline to the medical field -discovering and linking mutations in the G6PD gene to the mechanism of G6PD protein deficiency and ultimately to the health of the individual. On completing a MSc in Biomolecular Organization and PhD in Molecular Genetics of G6PD I was lucky enough to spend a short time collecting blood samples and meeting the people of Vanuatu in the SW Pacific where 6% of the population are G6PD deficient.  My initial postdoctoral research concerned locating the gene for cystinosis, a relatively rare but fatal disease affecting the kidneys in childhood. After a successful linkage analysis I led the London cystinosis group and, with collaborators in France, found and characterized the gene.  Publication of the complete human genome sequence and development of high throughput molecular analysis opened up the possibility of determining genomic factors underlying more common, complex diseases with a high impact on public health. I moved to research groups attached to Hammersmith Hospital with the opportunity of applying this technology to study first human hypertension and later hyperlipidaemia.  At the Institute for the Environment, which I joined in 2009, I am now applying a combination of genomic with physiological analysis to compare the effects of endocrine disruptors in aquatic invertebrates with their effect in humans.

Research Funded by The Leverhulme Trust

The aim of current project is to research the similarities and differences in the human and model invertebrate responses to a well known reproductive toxicant at a number of levels of complexity. To this end I have studied three-generations of the aquatic snail Biomphalaria glabrata collating responses at the population level in hatching rate, growth and fecundity; individual responses in tissue/organ damage; and genomic responses in gene expression. We then intend to describe the essential biology of these responses and to link them to one another with the long-term aim of developing mathematical models or invertebrate assays that can predict human and wildlife reproductive risk across several generations.