Nicholas Crump

I completed my DPhil in the lab of Louis Mahadevan, Department of Biochemistry, where I studied the role of dynamic histone acetylation in the control of gene expression. I joined the Milne lab in 2016, where my research is directed towards understanding the role of enhancers in leukaemia, focusing on MLL-AF4 ALL. I am interested in using this knowledge to identify novel targets to disrupt epigenetic regulation as a therapeutic intervention.

I use a variety of high-throughput techniques to understand the regulation of chromatin and gene expression, including ChIP-seq (and small cell number techniques such as ChIPmentation), ATAC-seq and RNA-seq. In addition, I use the 3C technology Next Generation Capture-C to investigate the physical association of enhancers and promoters, and how this is regulated. I also have an interest in the role of the immune system in cancer targeting, in collaboration with the Multi-dimensional Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses lab (HIU), particularly how cancer cells can manipulate the extracellular environment to suppress immune activity.

In addition to my research activities, I teach topics in molecular cell biology for Biochemistry undergraduates at Oxford. I was a stipendiary lecturer at Worcester College from 2014-2019, and I continue to be involved in tutorials and admissions at Worcester and a number of other colleges.