
Dr Helen Weavers
PhD(Cantab.)
Current positions
Associate Professor in Cell and Developmental Biology
School of Biochemistry
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
Our tissues are frequently exposed to a wide-range of endogenous and exogenous insults that could threaten the integrity of their genome, proteome and metabolome. This occurs when tissues are injured, as inflammatory cells generate toxic products, and also in otherwise healthy tissues as similar products are generated as a normal byproduct of cellular metabolism and physiology. How do our tissues withstand these insults? In our lab, we explore the diverse, powerful defense strategies used by developing and repairing tissues to make them resilient to this damage.
We use an exciting interdisciplinary approach that combines in vivo imaging and genetics in Drosophila with human genetic epidemiology, to explore tissue resilience mechanisms in development and wound repair.
For more information see our lab website.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
AGENTS- Project Grant Application
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of BiochemistryDates
01/05/2024 to 30/04/2025
Age-related renal decline
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of BiochemistryDates
01/01/2023 to 31/12/2023
Thesis supervisions
Dissecting the Role of the PARylation Stress Response During Tissue Repair and Inflammation in Drosophila
Supervisors
Nuclear Dynamics During Confined Immune Cell Migration in the Drosophila Pupal Wing
Supervisors
Dissecting stress resilience mechanisms during epithelial homeostasis and repair
Supervisors
Deep learning and mathematical analysis of wound healing in flies
Supervisors
Modelling complex wound environments - Integrating in vivo Drosophila studies and human genetic epidemiology
Supervisors
Publications
Selected publications
11/11/2013Tip cells act as dynamic cellular anchors in the morphogenesis of looped renal tubules in Drosophila
Developmental Cell
Hemocyte-secreted type IV collagen enhances BMP signaling to guide renal tubule morphogenesis in Drosophila
Developmental Cell
Tip cells
Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
The insect nephrocyte is a podocyte-like cell with a filtration slit diaphragm
Nature
Recent publications
06/02/2025Immune cells adapt to confined environments in vivo to optimise nuclear plasticity for migration
EMBO Reports
Rapid Preparation of Living Drosophila Pupal Macrophages for Ex Vivo Imaging
Imaging Cell Signalling
AI reveals a damage signalling hierarchy that coordinates different cell behaviours driving wound re-epithelialisation
Biological resilience in health and disease
Disease Models and Mechanisms
Deep learning for rapid analysis of cell divisions in vivo during epithelial morphogenesis and repair
eLife