Azim surani biography

Surani was born in Kenya and received a PhD at Cambridge University under Sir Robert Edwards (Nobel laureate, 2010) in 1975, and was elected as Marshall-Walton Professor in 1992, and then as Director of Germline and Epigenetics Research in 2013 at the Gurdon Institute.
Azim Surani CBE FRS FMedSci (born 1945 in Kisumu, Kenya) is a Kenyan-British developmental biologist who has been Marshall–Walton Professor at the Wellcome.
Biography.

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Azim Surani

Kenyan-British developmental biologist

Azim SuraniCBE FRS FMedSci^[1] (born 1945 in Kisumu, Kenya) is a Kenyan-British developmental biologist who has been Marshall–Walton Professor at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UKGurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge since 1992, and Director of Germline and Epigenomics Research since 2013.^[4]^[5]

Education

Surani was educated at Plymouth University (BSc),^[when?] the University of Strathclyde (MSc)^[6] and the University of Cambridge (PhD) where his research was supervised by Robert Edwards, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.^[1]^[6]^[7]

Career and research

Surani co-discovered mammalian genomic imprinting with Davor Solter^[8] in 1984, and subsequently examined its mechanism and the functions of imprinted genes.^[1] He later established the genetic basis for germ cell specification, using a single-cell analysis in mice.^[1] This genetic network also initiates t

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Azim Surani discovered genomic imprinting in 1984, and subsequently examined its mechanism and the functions of imprinted genes. He later established the genetic basis for mouse primordial germ cell (PGC) specification, using a single cell transcriptome approach. This genetic network also initiates the unique resetting of the germline epigenome, including comprehensive erasure of DNA methylation towards re-establishing full genomic potency. Epigenetic modifications and re-establishments of imprints then generate functional differences between parental genomes whilst aberrant imprints contribute to human disease.

He is currently identifying key regulators of human germline fate and epigenome reprogramming, revealing differences between humans and mice attributable to their divergent pluripotent states and early postimplantation development. He is also investigating transposable elements, host defence mechanisms, noncoding RNAs, and the potential for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mammals.

Azim received his PhD in 1975 at the University of Cambridge under Sir Robert E

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Azim Surani, born in Kenya received a PhD at Cambridge University under Professor Sir Robert Edwards FRS (Nobel Laureate, 2010). Surani joined the Babraham Institute in 1979, and discovered ‘Genomic Imprinting’ in 1984, and subsequently, novel imprinted genes and their functions, with contributions to its mechanism through establishment and erasure of DNA methylation. In 1992, he was elected the Marshall-Walton Professor, and subsequently Director of Research at Cambridge University. His recent work has contributed to the genetic basis for germ cell specification and epigenetic programming towards resetting of the epigenome in mouse and human. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1990, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2001, awarded a Royal Medal in 2010, and in 2014, the ISSCR McEwen Award for Innovation.

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