In conversation with Sarah Teichmann

Abstract

Sarah Teichmann is Head of Cellular Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and visiting research group leader at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). Sarah was appointed to the Sanger Institute and EMBL-EBI in 2013; prior to this she was a research group leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), where she first set up her group in 2001. The Teichmann lab is interested in global principles of protein interactions and gene expression, and in recent years has exploited cutting-edge single-cell genomics technologies to explore key questions relating to immune system function. In 2016, she co-founded the Human Cell Atlas initiative to map every cell type in the human body using single-cell transcriptomic technologies and spatial methods. Sarah has received many prestigious awards in recognition of her contributions to understanding protein complex assembly and gene regulatory networks. In this interview, she relays the story behind some of her research breakthroughs, discusses her career path and most influential mentors, and tells us why looking at biology at the level of a single cell can be so powerful and illuminating.