Human Cell Atlas: Co-founder & Co-lead
Sarah Teichmann is one of the co-founders of the Human Cell Atlas, a global initiative bringing together thousands of scientists to ‘create a comprehensive reference map of the types and properties of all human cells, the fundamental unit of life, as a basis for understanding, diagnosing, monitoring and treating health and disease’ (HCA mission statement: https://www.humancellatlas.org/).
We study the composition of many human tissues in both healthy and disease states using single cell and spatial genomics, coupled with computational analyses.
image credit: Jana Eliasova
Immunology: an organism-wide view
Many of our group members have a deep interest in immunology, including tissue-resident immune cells and cross-tissue studies. We study the healthy human immune system, how it develops during pregnancy, and how it is modified in disease.
Driving single cell and spatial genomics technology
We identify the best new technologies to answer our biological questions and push method development in both single cell genomics and spatial transcriptomics / genomics. By collaborating with the Sanger Institute core and operations teams, we scale these technologies to deploy them in high-throughput.
Images from Vento-Tormo R, Efremova M, [...], Teichmann SA et al. (2018) Single-cell reconstruction of the early maternal-fetal interface in humans. Nature and Suo C, Dann E, [...], Marioni JC, Clatworthy MR, Haniffa M, Teichmann SA. (2022) Mapping the developing human immune system across organs. Science
Computational analysis and methods development
Roughly half our staff are dry-lab scientists, working on data analysis and computational methods development as well as data portals. We have close links with the EMBL-EBI, our next-door neighbours on the Wellcome Genome Campus.
Developing people
Our greatest strength is our people. We come from around the world and a myriad of different disciplines, working together to push scientific research and technology development. From those just starting out to world-leaders in their field, we are always looking for the best and the brightest to join our team.
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” – Isaac Newton