Stewart Francis

Stewart Francis is a W3 Professor of Genomics at the Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering (CMCB) of Technische Universität Dresden (TUD), where he has been based since 2017. Previously, he held the same role at TUD's Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) from 2005-2017 and served as BIOTEC Director (2014-2017). His research focuses on chromatin biology, epigenetics, histone modifications, and their roles in stem cell maintenance, mammalian development, and genetic engineering techniques like recombineering.

• B.Sc. (1st Class Honours), University of New South Wales (1980)
• Ph.D., University of New South Wales (1985)
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (1985-1986)

Research interests include homologous recombination, DNA repair, stem cell epigenetics, and genomic engineering tools. His work bridges fundamental chromatin dynamics (e.g., MLL1/MLL2 roles in hematopoiesis and neurodevelopment) with applied biotechnology (adenoviral vectors, CRISPR, and Redβ/RecET recombineering systems). Google Scholar publications (2015-2025) highlight innovations in DNA nanostructure assembly, site-specific recombination, and disease modeling.

Scientific recognition includes:

• EMBO Fellow (2007)
• Beaufort Visiting Scholar, St John's College Cambridge (2019-2020)
• International Society for Transgenic Technology Prize (2010)

He founded Gene Bridges GmbH (2000-present), a biotech company commercializing recombineering tools, and co-organized EU FP7 SyBoSS program (2010-2016). His lab at BIOTEC advances both basic research on chromatin organization and applied projects in heterologous gene expression.