Julie Ahringer

Julie Ahringer is Professor of Genetics and Genomics at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute. She leads a research group investigating chromatin structure and gene regulation using C. elegans as a model system. Her work integrates genomics, super-resolution microscopy, and computational approaches to understand epigenetic controls in development and disease. She holds fellowships from the Royal Society (FRS) and Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).

Research Focus: Her laboratory studies chromatin regulation mechanisms including heterochromatin formation, Polycomb domain function, genome architecture, and enhancer/promoter interactions. Key approaches include single-cell multiomics, high-throughput genomics, and super-resolution microscopy to analyze developmental trajectories. Research areas span:

• H3K27me3 domain formation and Polycomb repression
• Constitutive heterochromatin organization
• Regulatory element characterization
• 3D genome architecture via ARC-C technology
• Single-cell resolution developmental mapping

Awards & Honors:

• Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)
• Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci)
• Wellcome Senior Research Fellowship

Academic Leadership: She mentors PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, with funding from Wellcome, MRC, and CRUK. Her lab develops open-source bioinformatics tools (VplotR, periodicDNA) and maintains the genome-wide C. elegans RNAi feeding library.

Lab & Collaborations: The Ahringer Lab is based at the Gurdon Institute and collaborates widely on chromatin dynamics, nuclear organization, and developmental genomics projects across model organisms.