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Contact Details

Email
julia.horsfield@otago.ac.nz
Position
Professor and Dean of the School of Biomedical Sciences
Department
Department of Pathology (Dunedin)
Qualifications
BSc(Hons) PhD DipAppSci
Research summary
Developmental biology, genetics and epigenetics

Research

Julia Horsfield is the Principal Investigator of the Chromosome Structure and Development Group, and the Director of the Otago Zebrafish Facility.

Research Detail
  • Understanding the roles of sister chromatid cohesin proteins in animal development.
  • Exploring a link between cohesin subunit RAD21 and cancer.
  • Investigating oxidative stress and ageing using the zebrafish model.

We are interested in how proteins necessary for normal chromosome architecture during the cell cycle can also contribute to gene expression, animal development and cancer. The main focus of our research is exploring alternative roles for proteins needed for sister chromatid cohesion during mitosis. To do most of our research, we are using the genetically amenable vertebrate animal model, the zebrafish.

Publications

Antony, J., Gimenez, G., Kalev-Zylinska, M., Morison, I., Bohlander, S., Hunter, F. W., … Horsfield, J. A. (2024, August-September). Targeting cohesin mutations in leukaemia to identity druggable avenues. Verbal presentation at the Queenstown Research Week (QRW) Cancer Meeting, Queenstown, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Talosaga, M., Darroch, H., Horsfield, J., & Leask, M. (2024, August-September). Investigating the function of the type-2-diabetes gene JAZF1 in alternative tissues. Poster session presented at the 18th New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)

Darroch, H., Mosimann, C., Lalonde, R., Calhoun, C., Morice, E., Ledgerwood, E., … Stamp, L., Merriman, T., Horsfield, J., Wilcox, P., & Leask, M. (2024, August-September). Novel ‘omics and molecular pipelines in zebrafish for precision medicine for and by Māori. Verbal presentation at the 18th New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Gimenez, G., Kalev-Zylinska, M. L., Morison, I., Bohlander, S. K., Horsfield, J. A., & Antony, J. (2024). Cohesin rad21 mutation dysregulates erythropoiesis and granulopoiesis output within the whole kidney marrow of adult zebrafish. American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00657.2024 Journal - Research Article

Leask, M., Darroch, H., Morice, E., Calhoun, C., Wilcox, P., Horsfield, J., & Merriman, T. (2024). Beyond GWAS and towards precision medicine equity for Indigenous populations. Proceedings of the 17th GeneMappers Conference. Retrieved from https://www.genemappersconference.org Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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