Edinburgh Cancer Research

Dr Duncan Sproul received CRUK Career Development Fellowship

Dr Duncan Sproul was recently awarded a 6 year CRUK Career Development Fellowship, with £1.3M: 25 February 2016

Dr Duncan Sproul

Dr Duncan Sproul, based at the MRC Human Genetics Unit and affiliated to the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre, was recently awarded A 6 year CRUK Career Development Fellowship, worth £1.3M, for his work to understand how genetic variation can affect the development of breast cancer. Dr Sproul studies how DNA sequence changes can influence the regulation of genes, using a combination of machine learning techniques and experimental systems, including genome editing techniques. His project should reveal how mutations can alter DNA methylation and change the regulation of genes that can lead to carcinogenesis. Dr Sproul’s work has focused on how epigenetic marks and the binding of transcription factors interact to regulate genes. The work funded by the CRUK award focuses on breast cancer but the approach can also be adapted to find new mutations associated with diseases other than cancer. He joined the IGMM as a Research Fellow in 2013 following postdoctoral training at the Edinburgh Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit and a PhD at the MRC Human Genetics Unit.