Dr Tanya Whitfield
Reader in Developmental Biology
MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics
Department of Biomedical Science
University of Sheffield
SHEFFIELD
S10 2TN
United Kingdom
Room: C21 Firth Court
Telephone: +44 (0) 114 222 2350
Fax: +44 114 222 2788
email : t.whitfield@sheffield.ac.uk
Career history
- 2013-present: Reader in Developmental Biology
- 2004-2012: Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield.
- 1997-2004: Lecturer, University of Sheffield.
- 1994-1997: Imperial Cancer Research Fund Postdoctoral Fellow and Linacre College Junior Research Fellow, Developmental Biology Unit, University of Oxford, and Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London. Research Advisor: Dr Julian Lewis.
- 1994: EMBO Short Term Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen. Research Advisor: Professor Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard.
- 1992-1994: Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Zoology and Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research Campaign Institute, University of Cambridge. Research Advisor: Professor Chris Wylie.
- 1989-1992: Wellcome PhD student, Department of Zoology and Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research Campaign Institute, University of Cambridge. Research Advisor: Professor Chris Wylie.
- 1986-1989: BA Natural Sciences (Zoology), University of Cambridge.
Research interests
My group uses the zebrafish as a model organism to study the development and function of the inner ear. We are interested in the early patterning and evolution of otic structures, modelling of auditory and vestibular disease, ototoxicity and fluid regulation in the ear.
Read more (link to the MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics)
Activities and distinctions
- Invited speaker at national and international meetings (recent meetings include: Study Seminar on Sensory Placodes, Fondation des Treilles, France; Genetics Society Meeting: Supermodel Organisms, The Royal Society, London; Sensory Systems Meeting, Barcelona, Spain.)
- Honorary Secretary, UK Genetics Society
- Regular reviewer for scientific journals and grant awarding bodies
Funding
Recent publications
Stooke-Vaughan GA, Huang P, Hammond KL, Schier AF, Whitfield TT (2012). The role of hair cells, cilia and ciliary motility in otolith formation in the zebrafish otic vesicle. Development 139, 1777-87.
Buck LMJ, Redfern WS, Winter MJ and Whitfield TT (2012). Ototoxin-induced cellular damage in neuromasts disrupts lateral line function in larval zebrafish. Hearing Research 284, 67-81.
Hammond KL, Whitfield TT (2011). Fgf and Hh signalling act on a symmetrical pre-pattern to specify anterior and posterior identity in the zebrafish otic placode and vesicle. Development 138, 3977-87.
Abbas L, Hajihashemi S, Stead LF, Cooper GJ, Ware TL, Munsey TS, Whitfield TT, White SJ (2011). Functional and developmental expression of a zebrafish Kir1.1 (ROMK) potassium channel homologue Kcnj1. J. Physiol. 589, 1489-503.
Hammond KL, van Eeden FJ, Whitfield TT (2010). Repression of Hedgehog signalling is required for the acquisition of dorsolateral cell fates in the zebrafish otic vesicle. Development 137, 1361-71.
Abbas L, Whitfield TT (2009). Nkcc1 (Slc12a2) is required for the regulation of endolymph volume in the otic vesicle and swim bladder volume in the zebrafish larva. Development 136, 2837-48.
Hammond KL, Whitfield TT. (2009). Expression of zebrafish hip: Response to Hedgehog signalling, comparison with ptc1 expression, and possible role in otic patterning. Gene Expr Patterns 9, 391-6.
Hammond, K. L., Loynes, H. E., Mowbray, C., Runke, G., Hammerschmidt, M., Mullins, M. C., Hildreth, V., Chaudhry, B. and Whitfield, T. T. (2009). A Late Role for bmp2b in the Morphogenesis of Semicircular Canal Ducts in the Zebrafish Inner Ear. PLoS ONE 4, e4368.
Dutton, K., Abbas, L., Spencer, J., Brannon, C., Mowbray, C., Kelsh, R. N. and Whitfield, T. T. (2009). A zebrafish model for Waardenburg syndrome type IV reveals diverse roles for Sox10 in the otic vesicle. Disease Models and Mechanisms 2, 68-83.
Hammond, K. L., Baxendale, S., McCauley, D. W., Ingham, P. W. and Whitfield, T. T. (2009). Expression of patched, prdm1 and engrailed in the lamprey somite reveals conserved responses to Hedgehog signalling. Evol. Dev. 11, 27-41.