Genetic effects on the skin methylome in healthy older twins
Position: PhD Student, King’s College London
ASHG: Can you describe the type of research that has your primary focus?
Christopher Shore: My research investigates the regulatory genomics underlying ageing processes in skin. In particular, I am interested in the complex dynamics between epigenetic modifications, alternative splicing of gene transcripts, levels of gene expression, and inherited genotypes, and how these dynamics might regulate ageing processes in skin
ASHG: Throughout your life, what have been some of the biggest career goals that you have wanted to accomplish?
Shore: I am currently in the final year of my PhD, and I hope to continue my academic career as a postdoctoral researcher once I have attained my PhD award. In the long-term, I hope to eventually lead my own research group, using cutting-edge statistical methods to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in complex diseases and processes, such as ageing.
ASHG: What are some of the reasons you chose to study genetics instead of anything else?
Shore: I have long been fascinated with how genetic, epigenetic, and transcriptomic processes, operating on a molecular scale, can have such complex impacts on our biology. My decision to choose genetics as my field of research was driven by this, and a desire to further my understanding of how living cells grow, are maintained, and sometimes catastrophically fail because of these miniscule processes.
ASHG: What are three words that you would use to describe yourself?
Shore: Curious, resilient, enthusiastic.