David Grainger
Meet David Grainger, a postdoctoral researcher in the Stone group. David completed his PhD at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine after studying Medical Science at the University of Birmingham. His research focusses on endothelial cells and uses advanced fluorescence imaging to study the impact of a cell's differentiation history on its fate and function. David's images have won departmental and institute contests, and his work was recently shortlisted in the Oxford-ZEISS Centre of Excellence inauguration event image competition.
Can you give a brief overview of your career trajectory so far?
I moved from my childhood city of Gloucester to study for my Bachelors in Medical Science at the University of Birmingham straight from school. During this time I was drawn in by the research process and learning more about the establishment and disturbance of cell identity. First working on the molecular mechanisms underpinning X-chromosome inactivation and then gene regulatory networks in acute myeloid leukaemia.
Some excellent mentors at Birmingham encouraged me to apply to PhD programs straight from my undergraduate programme and I was fortunate to be offered a funded position at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM) here in Oxford. During this time I worked on two projects; firstly using human pluripotent stem cells and then mouse models to understand the earliest mechanisms of blood fate specification during embryogenesis. While presenting my DPhil work at the local Jenkinson Developmental Biology Symposium I met my current PI, Ollie Stone, who six months later had a postdoctoral position where I have been working since February 2023.
What is your research focus?
My research focuses on how endothelial cells of the blood and lymphatic vascular systems are established during embryonic development. How embryos establish complex but organised networks throughout the entire organism from avascular beginnings. In the Stone Group I am working to understand whether endothelial cells with distinct developmental origins contribute to anatomically and functionally heterogeneous endothelial populations and to what extent this is driven by the molecular profile of the cell of origin versus the varying external signals received in different embryonic regions. We are applying high-throughput single cell genomics and advanced imaging to map cells during development and identify putative molecular regulators of cell fate acquisition. These curiosity-driven projects have led to us identifying a gene crucial for lymphatic development that our initial analysis suggests could cause congenital lymphatic disease in a small human population.
What has been your highlight this past year at the IDRM?
During my PhD I found a love of microscopy and really hoped to continue this into my postdoc. The highlight of my past year has been all imaging I’ve done. I have learned lots of new tissue processing, staining and microscope tricks and have been able to image a huge variation in embryonic stages, organs and stains. This all culminated in winning the department and institute image competitions.
How have you contributed to IDRM life?
In addition to providing some eye-catching images for displaying in the IDRM, I have helped establish collaborations between floors in the IDRM and across departments with my colleagues from the WIMM.
What do you look forward to most this year?
This year I am most looking forward to attending some conferences in Developmental and Vascular Biology. In particular, I look forward to meeting some of the researchers in my new field of lymphatics.
What do you do outside of the lab/Institute?
As a typical nerd, I spend a lot of my free time playing video games and knitting. Other than that I am teaching myself to play bass guitar, go on the occasional hike and even dabble in some photography. I’m a fan of formula 1 and rugby and enjoy going to rock concerts and music festivals.
