Professor Chris Ponting
Group Leader

Background
Professor Chris Ponting is Chair of Medical Bioinformatics and a Principal Investigator at the MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Cancer. Chris started his research in particle physics before moving via biophysics to bioinformatics and genomics. Aside from one year at the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NIH, Bethesda, MD), he pursued his research at the University of Oxford before moving to Edinburgh in 2016. His research group has made substantial contributions to protein science, evolutionary biology, genetics and genomics. Early in his career he discovered many important protein domain families. He then provided the first evolutionary analyses for mammalian genomes whilst leading protein analysis teams for the human and mouse genome sequencing projects. More recently, his research established that 8.2% of the human genome is constrained, and thus is likely functional.
Chris has been on Editorial Boards of Genome Research, Genome Biology, Human Molecular Genetics, Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, and Trends in Genetics, and was a Senior Editor of eLife until 2015. He served as Program Committee member for the CSHL Biology of Genomes, American Society of Human Genetics and Genome Science conferences.He was Head of the UK Node of ELIXIR and Chair of EMBL-EBI’s External Training Advisory Group and founded CGAT (www.cgat.org), an MRC-funded training centre. Professor Ponting is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation.
Qualifications
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Bachelor 1986, B.A. (2:1, Hons., physics), University of Oxford, UK
- Masters 1988, M.Sc. (1, physics), University of British Columbia, Canada
- Doctoral 1991, Doctor of Philosophy (biophysics), DPhil, University of Oxford
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GWAS and meta-analysis identifies 49 genetic variants underlying critical Covid-19
(30 pages)
In:
Nature, vol. 617, pp. 763-793
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06034-3
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Human Genetics Seen Through An Evolutionary Lens
In:
Cell Genomics, vol. 3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100323
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
An ependymal cell census identifies heterogeneous and ongoing cell maturation in the adult mouse spinal cord that changes dynamically on injury
In:
Developmental Cell, vol. 58, pp. 239-255.e10
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2023.01.003
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
OAF: a new member of the BRICHOS family
(5 pages)
In:
Bioinformatics Advances, vol. 2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bioadv/vbac087
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Genome-Wide Analysis of Human Long Noncoding RNAs: A Provocative Review
In:
Annual review of genomics and human genetics, vol. 23, pp. 153-172
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-genom-112921-123710
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published) -
DecodeME: Community recruitment for a large genetics study of myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome
In:
Bmc neurology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02763-6
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Whole genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical Covid-19
In:
Nature, vol. 607, pp. 97-103
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04576-6
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The genetics of ME: a commentary on Hajdarevic et al
In:
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2022.06.008
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Comment/debate (E-pub ahead of print) -
Refining the domain architecture model of the replication origin firing factor Treslin/TICRR
In:
Life Science Alliance, vol. 5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202101088
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Mapping the developing human cardiac endothelium at single cell resolution identifies MECOM as a regulator of arteriovenous gene expression
In:
Cardiovascular Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvac023
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)