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Julia Horsfiled and the Zebrafish tanksDirector
BSc (Hons), PhD, DipAppSci

Professor Julia Horsfield is a developmental geneticist based in the Department of Pathology at the University of Otago.

Julia leads a research group investigating the role of chromosome structure in animal development and cancer. Her specific research interest lies in cohesin proteins, which are present in all animals and important for cell division and DNA repair. As the name implies, cohesin proteins' main function is to hold replicated chromosomes together until cells divide. However, they are also involved in gene expression and this is where Julia's research focus lies, particularly in relation to Cornelia de Lange and Roberts syndromes.

Julia has worked with zebrafish as her model animal for the past 12 years. She moved from the University of Auckland to the University of Otago in 2007, introducing Otago researchers to zebrafish in the process. Her enthusiasm for the zebrafish animal model has attracted several senior researchers and their teams to zebrafish and this has ultimately led to the development of the new state-of-the-art facility.

Publications

Leask, M., Darroch, H., Morice, E., Calhoun, C., Wilcox, P., Horsfield, J., & Merriman, T. (2024). Beyond GWAS and towards precision medicine equity for Indigenous populations. Proceedings of the 17th GeneMappers Conference. Retrieved from https://www.genemappersconference.org Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Labudina, A. A., Meier, M., Gimenez, G., Tatarakis, D., Ketharnathan, S., Mackie, B., … Antony, J., & Horsfield, J. A. (2024). Cohesin composition and dosage independently affect early development in zebrafish. Development, 202593. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1242/dev.202593 Journal - Research Article

Schenk, S., Horsfield, J. A., Dwoskin, L., & Johnson, S. L. (2024). Methamphetamine effects in zebrafish (Danio rerio) depend on behavioral endpoint, dose and test session duration. Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior, 240, 173777. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2024.173777 Journal - Research Article

Sethi, A., Darroch, H., Horsfield, J., Morris, V., & Göbl, C. (2023). Unravelling the functional impact of the p16INK4a transition into amyloid fibrils using zebrafish recombinant protein. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NZSBMB) 50th Anniversary Conference. Retrieved from https://www.nzsbmb.org/conference Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Sarker, A., Horsfield, J., & Rizwan, S. (2023). Cellular and transcriptional response to endogenous lipid nanoparticles in the resolution of neuroinflammation in a zebrafish model. Proceedings of the New Zealand Controlled Release Society (NZCRS) Symposium. Retrieved from http://nzcrs.org.nz/#/home Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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