Rate My Professor Abigail Tucker

Professor Abigail Tucker is Professor of Development & Evolution in the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King's College London, where she serves in the Centre for Craniofacial & Regenerative Biology. She obtained her DPhil in 1996 from the University of Oxford in the laboratory of Professor Jonathan Slack, focusing on tail development in Xenopus laevis, along with a Bachelor of Arts in 1992 and Master of Arts in 2011 from the same university. Following her doctorate, Tucker conducted postdoctoral research at Guy’s Hospital, London, in the laboratories of Professors Paul Sharpe and Andrew Lumsden, igniting her interest in embryonic head development. In 1999, she established her independent laboratory as a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellow in the MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London. She relocated to the Department of Craniofacial Development within the Dental Institute in 2002 as a lecturer, was promoted to senior lecturer in 2007, and to full professor in 2015. Tucker holds a Wellcome Senior Investigator Award for research on the middle ear and has been honored with the inaugural Cheryll Tickle Medal from the British Society for Developmental Biology in 2016, the New Fellow of the Year Award from the Anatomical Society in 2014, and King’s Faculty Supervisory Excellence Awards in 2011 and 2015. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Anatomical Society, and Higher Education Academy, and currently serves as President of the Anatomical Society.

Tucker's research investigates the development of the head, with a focus on jaw-associated structures including dentition, salivary glands, jaw joint, and middle ear, exploring signalling molecules that control patterning and shape using model organisms such as mouse, chick, opossum, reptiles, and shrews. Her work addresses craniofacial disorders like Treacher Collins Syndrome, DiGeorge Syndrome, Ectodermal Dysplasia, LADD syndrome, and Branchio-Oto-Renal syndrome, with implications for human health and evolutionary biology. Notable publications include 'The cutting-edge of mammalian development; how the embryo makes teeth' (2004), 'Transformation of tooth type induced by inhibition of BMP signaling' (1998), 'Salivary gland development' (2007), 'Transient role of the middle ear as a lower jaw support across mammals' (2020), and 'Revitalising the rudimentary replacement dentition in the mouse' (2019). Tucker contributes to the field as a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Anatomy, Journal of Dental Research, and Developmental Dynamics, participates in grant panels for the Wellcome Trust and Action on Hearing Loss, and engages in public outreach through school visits, festival stands, museums, and the Emmy award-winning PBS series 'Your Inner Fish' (2015).