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Grant recipient

Kathleen Stewart-Morgan

Origin and Functions of Epigenetic Heterogeneity in Germ Cell Selection
Grant amount: DKK 9,999,663

Kathleen Stewart-Morgan says: “Primordial germ cells, the precursors to sperm in males and oocytes in females, undergo many changes and transformations throughout development. One of the most dramatic changes is to the epigenome, the proteins and chemical tags on DNA that regulate how the cell “reads” its genome. Germ cell development also entails waves of proliferation, where germ cells divide and multiply, and apoptosis, where a proportion of germ cells die. What differentiates germ cells that survive apoptosis from those that die is unclear. By assaying the germ cell epigenome throughout development and relating epigenome changes to proliferation and apoptosis, this project will examine the role of epigenome reprogramming in germ cell survival. This will provide new insights into how epigenome reprogramming in germ cells occurs, and the epigenome’s role in germ cell quality and function.”

Kathleen Stewart-Morgan who is of American nationality is currently a postdoc at the Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen but will relocate to the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Medicine to establish her own research group. She states: ”ICMM is the perfect place for me to establish my group as there are experts in stem cell and germ cell biology, state-of-the-art sequencing methodologies and shared interests in gametogenesis, embryology, epigenetics, and chromatin biology, which will be extremely beneficial in executing my research program.”

Kathleen Stewart-Morgan
Kathleen Stewart-Morgan
Group Leader, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen