Rate My Professor Rebecca Oakey

Oakey's research centers on epigenetic mechanisms, with a focus on DNA methylation as a regulator of gene expression during developmental processes. Her multi-disciplinary group employs molecular biology at model loci and computational analyses of omics data to elucidate gene regulation rules. Applications extend to clinically relevant areas including foetal growth defects, neuroendocrine tumours such as pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas, endocardial cell development, heart valve formation, rare diseases, cancer epigenomics, and host epigenetics in infection. Specific interests encompass intragenic CpG islands, imprinted retrogenes, and molecular genetics of neuroendocrine tumours. Notable publications include 'Divergent DNA methylation dynamics in marsupial and eutherian embryos' (Nature, 2025), 'SOX2+ sustentacular cells are stem cells of the postnatal adrenal medulla' (Nature Communications, 2025), 'Phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas harbour tumour-initiating SOX2+ stem cells' (2026), and 'Regulation of alternative polyadenylation by genomic imprinting' (Genes & Development, 2008). Oakey has received the Ethel Brown Foerderer Fellowship (2001), Florence R.C. Murray Award (1996), and Rothschild Sabbatical Fellowship (2018). She serves as Trustee of the Genetics Society, Associate Member of the EpiGeneSys Network, Training Lead for the KHP Digital Health Hub, and Lead for the King's Innovation Scholars Program, securing grants for digital health training and functional genomics research.