Research
My academic journey has centered on evolutionary epigenetics, with a focus on genomic imprinting—a process that dictates parent-of-origin-specific gene expression crucial for mammalian development. During my Honours and PhD at the University of Melbourne, I investigated the evolution of imprinting in mammals using a marsupial, the tammar wallaby, as a model. Currently, as a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Gavin Kelsey’s lab, I examine non-canonical imprinted genes in mice and develop tools for transcriptional variant-aware imprintome analysis.
My upcoming Marie Curie fellowship will focus on how aberrant transcription in mouse oocytes affects the epigenome and imprinting, with the goal of advancing assisted reproductive technologies and addressing infertility challenges. This work will contribute to understanding how transcriptional disruptions can influence epigenetic regulation, providing insights into reproductive health.
Publications
- Newman T, Bond MD, Ishihara T, Rizzolil P, Gouil Q, Hore TA, Shaw G, Renfree MB (2024). PRKACB is a novel imprinted gene in marsupials. Epigenetics & Chromatin 17 (29)
- Newman T, Ishihara T, Shaw G, Renfree MB (2024) The structure of the TH/INS locus and the parental allele expressed is not conserved between mammals. Heredity 133, 21–32.
- Ishihara T, Suzuki S, Newman T, Fenelon JC, Griffith OW, Renfree MB (2024) Marsupials have monoallelic MEST expression with a conserved antisense lncRNA but MEST is not be imprinted. Heredity 132, 5-17.
- Ishihara T, Griffith OW, Suzuki S, Renfree MB (2022) Placental imprinting of SLC22A3 in the IGF2R imprinted domain is conserved in therian mammals. Epigenetics & Chromatin 15 (32)
- Ishihara T, Hickford D, Fenelon CJ, Griffith OW, Suzuki S, Renfree MB (2022) Evolution of a short form of DNMT3A, DNMT3A2, occurred in the common ancestor of mammals. Genome biology and evolution 14 (7): evac094
