Susan is Professor of Synthetic Biology at the University of Edinburgh, where she also directs the UKRI Engineering Biology for Advanced Therapeutics Hub and co-directs the Edinburgh Genome Foundry.
A major challenge for gene therapies is that to be effective and safe they need to express the transgene in the right cell type, at the right level, for the right amount of time. Controllable systems, which can be used to turn off or titrate gene expression or translation, are critical for accelerating the pace of development and expanding the relevance of gene therapies for cardiac disease.
Susan's team use an engineering biology approach to develop a suite of novel genetically encoded systems for the control of gene therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
The Edinburgh Genome Foundry is a highly-automated DNA assembly and cell phenotyping facility that enables Susan and her collaborators to rapidly design, build novel genetic constructs and test their functionality in cells. It provides a unique interdisciplinary environment to develop novel AAV vectors with the ability to control the specific cell type and level of transgene translation through the use of tissue-specific promoters and the delivery of an approved, low cost, clinically approved drug.
