Professor Andrew McAinsh

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick

Scientific Background

Research Interests

Human beings are built from hundreds of trillions individual cells, generated by serial divisions of a single cell. A universal feature of these divisions is the accurate and equal separation of chromosomes, which carry the genetic information, into the two daughter cells. Mistakes in this process are associated with the progression of cancer, developmental Syndromes (i.e. Down's) and miscarriage. Our aim is to understand the molecular machinery that is responsible for pushing and pulling chromosomes into the correct position at the correct time during cell division.

Research Groups

Wellcome-Warwick Translational Partnership

Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: I would like to hope that I am a supportive supervisor who wants to really try help all students reach their full potential by guiding you and trying to keep us both focused on the key experiment.

Provision of Training

I would expect you to take responsibility for your initial training by taking advantage of expertise in the lab while asking for help whenever you need. This is especially important at the start of your PhD as you find your feet.

Progression Monitoring and Management

I will expect you to work hard and update on progress in our lab meetings every month or so. You should also be prepared to discuss you work on anadhocbasis and flag any issues with me so that we can find a solution together – science can be challenging and we need to work together to make good progress. We also use electronic lab notebooks to help keep track of progress and allow us to share our results across the lab.

Communication

Our lab has a WhatsApp group chat with which we regularly communicate during the week and weekends. Whilst I expect you to keep up with communications it is crucial that you also maintain a good work/life balance. I always happy to discuss any issues that are impacting your ability to fulfil your potential or my/our expectations.

In a group meeting

At least once per week

In year 1 of PhD study

At least once per month, with informal chats in between

In year 2 of PhD study

At least once per month, with informal chats in between

In year 3 of PhD study

At least once per month, with informal chats in between

The meetings will be face to face and I am usually contactable for an instant response (if required) on every working day.

Working Pattern

The timing of work in my lab is completely flexible, and (other than attending pre-arranged meetings), I expect students to manage their own time.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 1 week’s notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Primary supervisor for:

Molecular changes in human oocytes associated with reproductive ageing

See the PhD Opportunities section to see if this project is currently open for applications via MIBTP.

Please Note: The main page lists projects via BBSRC Research Theme(s) quoted and then relevant Topic(s).

Molecular changes in human oocytes associated with reproductive ageing

Secondary Supervisor(s): Professor Jan Brosens

University of Registration: University of Warwick

BBSRC Research Themes:

Integrated Understanding of Health (Ageing)

Project Outline

Female fertility decreases with age, with decline in fertility rates observed from the age of 35 (Gruhn et al., 2019). Social changes causing delayed parenthood and increasing average age of IVF patients highlight the need for understanding how advancing female age affects their reproductive functions. The reduction of fertility rates in older women is largely caused by the increased risk of aneuploidy, or abnormal number of chromosomes, in oocytes. Such oocytes are often incapable of normal development and may cause infertility, pregnancy loss, or developmental syndromes in children (e.g. Down’s). Abnormal number of chromosomes in oocytes arises due to errors in chromosome segregation as oocyte matures, which are surprisingly common, and additionally increase in frequency as women age. While some mechanisms contributing to this have been identified (see e.g. Mihalas et al., 2024), the overall understanding of the effect of ageing on human oocytes is lacking.

This project will investigate how chromosome segregation changes in oocytes from women of different ages. We will focus on the structures that orchestrate chromosome movement during meiosis: the microtubule-based meiotic spindle and the kinetochores, specialised sites where microtubules attach to chromosomes. Recent advancements have suggested a link between the error-prone process of spindle formation in oocytes and the role of the outer layer of the kinetochore (fibrous corona; Wu et al., 2023). Based on that finding, the student will investigate how kinetochores age building on preliminary work revealing how the corona structure fragments as eggs age. To do this the student will obtain immature human oocytes donated to research from our partner IVF unit and study them using a variety of techniques with focus on high resolution imaging, including live imaging of meiosis. Through this work, we aim to test interventions that may restore corona integrity and improve chromosome segregation fidelity in oocytes.

Co-supervisor on projects with Dr Matthew Naish.