Professor Vardhman Rakyan, PhD

Professor of Epigenetics
Centre: Centre for Genomics and Child Health
Email: v.rakyan@qmul.ac.uk Telephone: 020 7882 8140
Profile
For my PhD (1999-2002) I investigated epigenetic inheritance under the supervision of Prof. Emma Whitelaw, University of Sydney, Australia. From 2003-2007, I was a CJ Martin Postdoctoral Fellow at the Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK; where, under the guidance of Dr Stephan Beck, I developed functional genomics tools for genome-wide DNA methylation analyses.
Summary
The overall goals of the lab are to understand the molecular basis of the non-genetically determined component of mammalian phenotypes and diseases. Within this context, we are particularly interested in ‘epialleles' – loci at which the epigenetic state varies as a result of stochastic, genetic and/or environmental influences. We pursue several complementary lines of investigation that integrate molecular genomics, computational biology, mouse models, and human cohorts to understand the role of epialleles in complex phenotypes and diseases, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, and environmental epigenomics.
Teaching
Problem Based Learning (1st year MeD), FunMed 1 Lecture, SSC
Research
Research Interests:
Dr Robert Seaborne, Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Publications
Increased DNA methylation variability in type 1 diabetes across three immune effector cell types.
Paul DS, Teschendorff AE, Dang MA, Lowe R, Hawa MI, Ecker S, Beyan H, Cunningham S, Fouts AR, Ramelius A, Burden F, Farrow S, Rowlston S, Rehnstrom K, Frontini M, Downes K, Busche S, Cheung WA, Ge B, Simon MM, Bujold D, Kwan T, Bourque G, Datta A, Lowy E, Clarke L, Flicek P, Libertini E, Heath S, Gut M, Gut IG, Ouwehand WH, Pastinen T, Soranzo N, Hofer SE, Karges B, Meissner T, Boehm BO, Cilio C, Elding Larsson H, Lernmark Å, Steck AK, Rakyan VK*, Beck S*, Leslie RD*. Nat Commun. 2016 Nov 29;7:13555.
Early-life nutrition modulates the epigenetic state of specific rDNA genetic variants in mice.
Holland ML, Lowe R, Caton PW, Gemma C, Carbajosa G, Danson AF, Carpenter AA, Loche E, Ozanne SE, Rakyan VK.
Science. 2016 Jul 29;353(6298):495-8.
Beyan H, Down TA, Ramagopalan SV, Uvebrant K, Nilsson A, Holland ML, Gemma C, Giovannoni G, Boehm BO, Ebers GC, Lernmark Å, Cilio CM, Leslie RD, Rakyan VK.
Genome Res. 2012 Nov;22(11):2138-45
Epigenome-wide association studies for common human diseases.
Human aging-associated DNA hypermethylation occurs preferentially at bivalent chromatin domains.
A Bayesian deconvolution strategy for immunoprecipitation-based DNA methylome analysis.
View all Vardhman Rakyan's Research Publications at: http://www.researchpublications.qmul.ac.uk
Supervision
Zakaryya Ahmad, PhD Student
Selin Yildizoglu, PhD Student