Rate My Professor Darren Monckton

Professor Darren G. Monckton is Professor of Human Genetics in the School of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Glasgow. He obtained a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Bath in 1989 and a PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Leicester in 1992. He joined the University of Glasgow in 1996 and leads the Molecular Genetics research group. With more than 30 years of experience in human genetics research, his work centers on the molecular mechanisms driving the turnover, instability, and role of simple sequence microsatellite repeats in genetic variation and human disease.

Monckton's research particularly addresses CTG·CAG repeat expansions associated with myotonic dystrophy type 1 and CAG repeats in Huntington's disease. He examines germline transmission instability, somatic mosaicism during development, cis- and trans-acting genetic and environmental modifiers of repeat stability, employing human patient samples, transgenic mouse models, in vitro assays, and in silico modeling. His team develops next-generation sequencing-based methods for genome-wide microsatellite genotyping and mutation detection to identify drivers of germline and somatic mutation implicated in inherited disease, ageing, and cancer. He has published 136 items, including highly cited papers such as 'Complex gene conversion events in germline mutation at human minisatellites' (Nature Genetics, 1994), 'Minisatellite repeat coding as a digital approach to DNA typing' (Nature, 1991), 'CAG repeat not polyglutamine length determines timing of Huntington's disease onset' (Cell, 2019), and 'Somatic mosaicism, germline expansions, germline reversions and intergenerational reductions in myotonic dystrophy males: small pool PCR analyses' (Human Molecular Genetics, 1995). In 2017, he was awarded Muscular Dystrophy UK Scientist of the Year for contributions to myotonic dystrophy research. His laboratory has obtained grants from the Wellcome Trust, National Institutes of Health, CHDI Foundation, and Muscular Dystrophy UK. Monckton engages internationally through collaborations and patient community involvement, impacting clinical understanding and therapeutic strategies for repeat expansion disorders.