Dr Jake Cornwall-Scoones

Jake obtained his BA at the University of Cambridge, where he specialised in developmental biology, working on mechanisms of joint patterning in the digits of tetrapods. After graduating, he worked on theoretical models of C. elegans cell polarity at UCL, on using force-inference strategies applied to study Drosophila morphogenesis in PDN Cambridge, and on mammalian cell polarity and self-organisation in ‘stembryo’ models at the California Institute of Technology. For his PhD at the Francis Crick Institute, supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Jake has established methods to generate synthetic morphogen-responsive cis-regulatory elements at scale, revealing modular design rules that enable predictable engineering of neural patterning. In addition, through a series of theory-experiment collaborations, he has established agent-based theoretical frameworks of morphogenesis and cellular differentiation.

Supported by the Schmidt Science Fellowship, Wolfson Junior Research Fellowship and Isaac Newton Trust, Jake’s postdoctoral research will use zebrafish developmental genetics and theoretical approaches to investigate the mechanisms by which organs measure and regulate their sizes.