Rate My Professor Anthony Isles

Professor Anthony Isles, PhD, FRSB, is a Professor in the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences within the School of Medicine at Cardiff University. He earned his PhD in Zoology from the University of Cambridge in 2000 and a BSc in Zoology and Genetics from the University of Sheffield in 1994. Since 2006, he has held his professorial position at the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University. Prior roles include Beebe Trust Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge from 2003 to 2008 and postdoctoral researcher at the Babraham Institute from 1999 to 2003. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Isles leads the MURIDAE research cluster in the UKRI MRC National Mouse Genetics Network, focusing on modalities for understanding, recording, and integrating data across early life to advance preclinical models for neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders.

As a molecular and behavioural neuroscientist, Anthony Isles investigates the contribution of epigenetic mechanisms, particularly imprinted genes, to brain development, function, and behaviour, with emphasis on their roles in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. His research employs multi-disciplinary approaches including behavioural analysis, neurobiology, and molecular genetics in rodent models, exploring links from placental imprinted genes to maternal behaviour and offspring outcomes. Key publications include 'Imprinted genes and the manipulation of parenting in mammals' (Nature Reviews Genetics, 2023, with R. John and M.J. Higgs), 'The parenting hub of the hypothalamus is a focus of imprinted gene action' (PLoS Genetics, 2023), 'Genomic imprinting effects on brain development and function' (Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2007, with L.S. Wilkinson and W. Davies), and 'Distinct physiological and behavioural functions for parental alleles of imprinted Grb10' (Nature, 2011). Isles has secured major funding such as the Wellcome Mental Health Award (2025-2030) for cognitive health in psychotic disorders and MRC grants. He serves on editorial boards for Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Genes Brain and Behavior, and others, and holds roles including member of the Wellcome Brain and Behavioural Sciences Discovery Advisory Group and former trustee of the British Association of Neuroscience. Isles has delivered public lectures at Pint of Science, Cardiff Philosophy Cafe, and MRC Centenary events, and engaged with communities via IPWSO Leadership ECHO on Prader-Willi syndrome.