Kathy Niakan

Kathy Niakan is a Fellow at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with the School of Biological Sciences. She is the Mary Marshall and Arthur Walton Professor of Reproductive Physiology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, and Director of the Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms controlling early human development, with specific interests in early development, lineage specification, stem cell biology, pluripotency, and trophectoderm initiation. She utilizes techniques such as single-cell genomics, genome editing, and stem cell-based embryo models in her work.

Kathy Niakan is a professor specializing in reproductive physiology, with research interests in human development, implantation, comparative embryology, gene regulation, and signalling. Her work explores the molecular mechanisms underlying early human development, including the processes of implantation and lineage specification. She investigates gene regulation during embryogenesis, focusing on the role of key transcription factors and signalling pathways in the formation of the blastocyst and the differentiation of cell lineages. Her research also addresses the ethical and scientific challenges in human embryo research, stem cell derivation, and the development of embryo models for biomedical applications.