Steve Wilson appointed as new Associate Research Director for University Partnerships at Crick

Steve joins the Crick from UCL, where he is Professor of  Developmental Genetics (UCL Biosciences) and up until he started this new role, served as Vice-Dean for Research in the Faculty of Life Sciences. In undertaking his new role, Steve will now split his time between UCL and the Crick.  

With a robust background in supporting the research community, Steve has a special emphasis on nurturing early career researchers and technical support staff.  His extensive experience includes serving on Wellcome funding panels for numerous years and, until recently, acting as the UCL Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard Champion. At UCL, Steve helped to establish the UCL Excellence Fellowship scheme, facilitating the recruitment of many exceptional junior biomedical researchers.

Prior to joining UCL, Steve held positions at the University of Michigan and King’s College London. He has been recognised for his contributions, being elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2002 and to EMBO in 2005. In 2009, he was honoured with the Remedios Caro Almela Prize in Developmental Neurobiology. Additionally, Steve has contributed his expertise to international scientific advisory boards and review committees for various research institutes, including EMBL and the Max-Planck Institute for Neurobiology.

Steve's research at UCL focuses on utilising zebrafish to unravel the intricacies of vertebrate forebrain and eye development. Notably, his lab investigates the zebrafish epithalamus, as shown in the image above, which serves as a bridge connecting the limbic system to other brain regions. The small parapineal nucleus, highlighted in yellow, is one of the most conspicuous asymmetric features of this region of the brain.

Recently, his team collaborated with Vivian Li, a group leader at the Crick and several other research teams, to explore the genetic underpinnings of how neurons on the left and right sides of the zebrafish brain develop distinct properties, culminating in a publication in Science on 2 May.

Steve comments “The Crick/University Partnership schemes bring benefits both to participating researchers and to their host institutions and I’m really looking forward to supporting the people and activities that make the partnerships thrive. I will also be working with staff at the Crick and at the universities to understand how we might make our partnerships even more successful."

Further information:

• Professor Steve Wilson - staff profile
• UCL Division of Biosciences
• Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
• Steve Wilson's lab website - Zebrafishucl.org
• Science publication (2 May 2024): Cachd1 interacts with Wnt receptors and regulates neuronal asymmetry in the zebrafish brain
• The Francis Crick Institute

Images:

Image 1: Portrait of Steve Wilson by Stephen Potvin, the Francis Crick Institute.

Image 2: The image shows the zebrafish ephithalamus, which connects the limbic system to other areas of the brain. The parapineal nucleus (yellow) is one of the prominent left-right asymmetries in this region of the brain. Taken by Ana Faro. 

Contact:

• Steve Wilson s.wilson [at] ucl.ac.uk    
• steve.wilson [at] crick.ac.uk
• Twitter/X:  @stevewilsonfish