Luke Boulter

Chancellor's Fellow and Principal Investigator

Biography

Background

I completed my BSc (Hons) degree in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of York in 2004, where I became interested in how cells communicate and how multicellular processes are regulated. Following this, I moved to the University of Edinburgh-MRC Centre for Inflammation Research to undertake a PhD with Prof Stuart Forbes.  My PhD focused on how adult progenitor cells are regulated in the liver and I showed that by balancing Wnt and Notch signalling, liver progenitor cells are able to switch fate. During  a relatively brief spell as a post-doctoral fellow at the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, I showed that this signals which given progenitor cells fate also regulate the growth of cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the bile duct with a very poor prognosis. 

I moved to the MRC Human Genetics Unit in 2014 as a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow and University of Edinburgh Chancellors Fellow my lab's work focuses on how Wnt signalling regulates the biology of the liver in health and disease. We use a combination of human genetics, molecular biology and disease modelling to ask fundemental questions about how Wnts function in vivo and try to apply this knowledge to developing therapies for liver disease. 

Qualifications

  • Bachelor

    • 2007, Bachelor of Science with Honours – University of York
  • Doctorate
    • 2011, Doctor of Philosophy – University of Edinburgh

View all 48 publications on Research Explorer

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