This October we welcome three new Associate Professor Tutorial Fellows to the Department of Biology.
Dr Jan M. Ache – Associate Professor of Animal Behaviour, Merton College
Jan’s research focuses on the neuronal underpinnings of sensorimotor flexibility. At the heart, he aims to understand how nervous systems enable flexible, context-appropriate behaviour. What changes in the brain when an animal gets hungry or starts to run? How do these changes enable animals to adjust their behaviour to locate food sources and prioritise food searching over other behaviours?
To understand this, Jan works on both the neuronal circuits in the brain and nerve cord that control specific behaviours (such as walking), and on the modulatory systems that change how these circuits process information when an animal’s state changes (such as the insulin and dopamine system). His recent work has focused on the neuronal control of insulin release, and on neuronal circuits controlling walking and flight.
Dr Jungnam Cho – Associate Professor of Plant Molecular Biology, Queen’s College
Jungnam’s research investigates the complex molecular interplay between transposable elements (TEs) and host genome regulation. While transposons pose a persistent threat to genomic integrity through insertional mutagenesis and chromosomal instability, they simultaneously act as essential drivers of evolutionary adaptation and regulatory innovation.
He explores this dual nature by pulling apart the molecular mechanisms that govern transposon repression and opportunistic activation. Approaching TE dynamics from diverse experimental and conceptual angles, Jungnam focuses particularly on the epigenetic and epitranscriptomic landscapes, including chromatin modifications, small RNA pathways, and post-transcriptional RNA modifications to understand how cells safeguard host genomes while harnessing transposon activity to drive evolutionary diversity.
Dr Max Fitz-James – Associate Professor of Cell & Molecular Biology, Keble College
Max’s research looks at what makes an organism outside of the genetic information encoded in DNA. Epigenetic information is responsible for incredible variation both between cells within an individual, and between individuals in a population. This information also has the possibility of being transmitted from parent to offspring, providing an epigenetic memory across generations.
By looking at the molecular mechanisms behind transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, Max aims to understand how it can contribute to important traits such as health, longevity, fertility, and adaptation to environmental challenges.
