Hannah Long (@hannahlong)

We are looking for two exceptional Research Assistants!

1) Experimental, to drive forward quantitative studies of transcription factor function in development

2) computational, to develop and apply cutting-edge deep learning models of gene regulation.

Links below

20.02.2026 14:23 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

Array-CNCC: precise aggregation and arrayed plating facilitate quantitative phenotyping of human cranial neural crest cells and craniofacial disease modelling Facial development is highly sensitive to genetic and environmental perturbation, with craniofacial malformation associated with over one-third of congenital birth defects. The face arises during an early and largely inaccessible window of embryonic development, with a large contribution from transient and multipotent cranial neural crest cells (CNCCs). Assessment of the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving normal and disordered human facial development therefore relies greatly on the use of in vitro cellular models. Here, we adapted a neurosphere-based CNCC differentiation protocol to facilitate robust quantification of early specification and migration events. Introduction of single-cell aggregation with arrayed plating enabled standardisation of neurosphere size, growth and patterning. Inclusion of fibronectin coating enhanced the efficiency of neurosphere attachment and synchronicity of CNCC migration timing. To demonstrate application of the Array-CNCC method, we developed a strategy for mosaic co-culture, which can facilitate differentiation of wildtype untreated cells directly alongside cells exposed to distinct drug treatments or genetic alterations. Finally, we present a screening approach which we use to test the impact of distinct extracellular matrix components on neurosphere morphology, CNCC migration and gene expression. Together, the Array-CNCC method is highly amenable to quantitative phenotyping and screening approaches, enabling enhanced craniofacial disease modelling with both cellular and molecular readouts. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Medical Research Council, MC\_UU\_00035/12, MC\_ST\_00035 Wellcome Trust, https://ror.org/029chgv08, 227712/Z/23/Z

📣 Preprint alert!

I am happy to share that our neural crest manuscript is now available on BioRxiv! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

19.01.2026 12:16 👍 5 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0

SS18::SSX activates Polycomb target genes without BAF ❌
Instead, transcription relies on EP300 via the SS18 QPGY domain
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
➡️ Coactivator targeting emerges as a new therapeutic strategy in synovial sarcoma 🎯
Team work from @banitolab.bsky.social and @uoe-igc.bsky.social

28.01.2026 10:20 👍 22 🔁 16 💬 3 📌 0

Array-CNCC: precise aggregation and arrayed plating facilitate quantitative phenotyping of human cranial neural crest cells and craniofacial disease modelling https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.18.696654v1

19.01.2026 08:30 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

This was a fantastic collaborative effort - many congratulations to first authors Ewa and Kasia!

@ewaoz.bsky.social
@km-milto.bsky.social

And a big thank you to everyone who provided support, input and inspiration along the way.

28.01.2026 14:36 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

📣 I'm excited to share our latest preprint!

We adapt and characterise a neurosphere-based CNCC differentiation protocol, and demonstrate utility for quantitative phenotyping and craniofacial disease modelling! 🧫

Read about Array-CNCC here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

@uoe-igc.bsky.social

28.01.2026 14:36 👍 48 🔁 13 💬 2 📌 1

🎉 Many congratulations to Kasia Milto who successfully defended her thesis last week! It was so wonderful to have Kasia as the first PhD student in the lab, and to co-supervise with Jenny Nichols. So proud!

@km-milto.bsky.social
@uoe-igc.bsky.social

26.01.2026 15:38 👍 17 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 1

Super line-up of chromatin, epigenetics and gene regulation speakers coming your way from @aicc-ireland.bsky.social over the next 5 months!

15.01.2026 15:19 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

ASPEN: Robust detection of allelic dynamics in single cell RNA-seq Author summary One powerful way to study regulation is to examine hybrids between two inbred species, where each gene has two distinct parental copies, or alleles. Measuring how much each allele is ex...

Latest from our lab: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour... Congratulations to Veronika for leading this work to model cis-regulatory dynamics in F1s using single-cell allelic data

20.12.2025 06:36 👍 13 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0

Applications for our international #PhD program open until 11th Jan. Come work with us @uoe-igc.bsky.social and @hannahlong.bsky.social to understand DNMT3B in ICF syndrome or with our wonderful colleagues.
Details here:
institute-genetics-cancer.ed.ac.uk/igc-graduate...
#epigenetics Please repost 🙏

19.12.2025 10:31 👍 11 🔁 9 💬 0 📌 0

Excited to share our work at @natcomms.nature.com

We used single cell proteomics to define the functional heterogeneity of human neutrophils in glioblastoma, finding pro and anti-tumorigenic effector states invisible to scRNAseq.

SCP will revolutionise immunology, this is just the start

15.12.2025 20:09 👍 42 🔁 9 💬 2 📌 1

SET1/MLL complexes control transcription independently of H3K4me3 Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at gene promoters is thought to play a central role in gene transcription. H3K4 methylation is deposited by the SET1 (A/B) and MLL (1-4) multi-protein comp...

An early Christmas present for those interested in chromatin and transcription! Fantastic work from @au-ho-yu.bsky.social and @aleksszczurek.bsky.social . Thanks to Inge and Michiel for their help. Please repost!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

11.12.2025 06:09 👍 133 🔁 65 💬 10 📌 6

JASPAR: An open-access database of transcription factor binding profiles JASPAR is the largest open-access database of curated and non-redundant transcription factor (TF) binding profiles from six different taxonomic groups.

JASPAR 2026 is out 🎉

The new release massively expands the TF motif collections and adds a dedicated DeepLearning collection of motifs learned from deep learning models.

Database: jaspar.elixir.no
Paper (NAR): doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

🧵1/2

03.12.2025 14:43 👍 62 🔁 28 💬 1 📌 0

Intro to Bedder – The Quinlan Lab

We are thrilled to announce the first official release (v0.1.8) of #𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿, the successor to one of our flagship tool, #𝗯𝗲𝗱𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀! Based on ideas we conceived of long ago (!), this was achieved thanks to the dedication of Brent Pedersen.

1/n

02.12.2025 02:28 👍 298 🔁 152 💬 5 📌 11

Don’t miss out on this opportunity- come and join us at the Oxford Organoid Hub working under the MRC-BHF REACT programme! If you love in vitro 3D models, the ❤️ and regenerative therapies, this is for you - apply by 18 Dec @oxforddpag.bsky.social @idrm.ox.ac.uk @rdm.ox.ac.uk

30.11.2025 23:02 👍 10 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 0

MRC four-year International PhD programme: Human Genetics, Genomics and Disease | IGC Graduate Research & Training | Institute of Genetics and Cancer Applications now open.

Exciting opportunity to work on a collaborative PhD project with Duncan and myself modeling ICF1 syndrome in human stem cell models 🧫

@sproullab.bsky.social
@uoe-igc.bsky.social

Applications are open for the MRC PhD programme in Human Genetics, Genomics and Disease at the University of Edinburgh!

25.11.2025 10:47 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Project 2: Use human ES cells to determine exactly how DNMT3B mutations cause ICF1 syndrome. Collaboration with @hannahlong.bsky.social:
institute-genetics-cancer.ed.ac.uk/igc-graduate...
Deadline 11th January 2026
This scheme is flexible if you are interested in other projects.
🧵 3/4

25.11.2025 09:15 👍 7 🔁 5 💬 2 📌 0

🚨 Multiple #PhD opportunities for lab or computational applicants. Do you want to understand the molecular basis of #epigenetic dysfunction in human disease?
Come work with our group at the fantastic, collaborative @uoe-igc.bsky.social in a beautiful, liveable city.
🧵 1/4
Please repost 🙏

25.11.2025 09:15 👍 20 🔁 17 💬 1 📌 2

BRAIN-MAGNET: A functional genomics atlas for interpretation of non-coding variants BRAIN-MAGNET, a convolutional neural network trained on 148,198 functionally tested non-coding regulatory elements, predicts enhancer activity directly from DNA sequence and identifies nucleotides ess...

Very pleased to share our latest paper published in Cell:
BRAIN-MAGNET: A functional genomics atlas for interpretation of non-coding variants: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
@cellpress.bsky.social, @cp-cell.bsky.social, @ruizhideng.bsky.social #enhancer
here is a thread about our findings:

20.11.2025 09:38 👍 12 🔁 9 💬 2 📌 2

Neanderthal DNA reveals how human faces form Subtle genomic variations between humans and Neanderthals provide clues to how DNA shapes our facial features.

Researchers have identified gene-regulatory variants that might have contributed to Neanderthals’ beefy jaws — offering a window on how the human face developed

go.nature.com/3Ke6StJ

20.11.2025 17:07 👍 34 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 3

Congratulations!

19.11.2025 11:56 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

🚨Reposts appreciated‼️If I had read this PhD offer five years ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second to apply 😉
Passionate about gene regulation, chromatin, and developmental biology? Just contact @radaiglesiaslab.bsky.social at @ibbtec.bsky.social 🧬✨

#PhD #3DGenome

15.11.2025 09:52 👍 36 🔁 37 💬 0 📌 3

Join us for our free inaugural lecture & drinks reception. @jorisveltman.bsky.social will talk about the genetic causes of rare disorders such as reproductive disorders & Charlie Lees will tell the 20‑year story of change in IBD.
More info & register👉 bit.ly/3J766hJ
@cmvm-edinburghuni.bsky.social

05.11.2025 10:28 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1

Neanderthal DNA enhances our understanding of face development

This Research Highlight showcases the work from Hannah Long @hannahlong.bsky.social, Kirsty Uttley @kirstyuttley.bsky.social, Hannah Jüllig @hannahjuellig.bsky.social and colleagues: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

10.11.2025 13:04 👍 21 🔁 7 💬 2 📌 2

Our latest paper has just been published in Cell!

doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

We developed a new method called MCC ultra, which allows 3D chromatin structure to be visualised with a 1 base pair pixel size.

05.11.2025 17:17 👍 209 🔁 79 💬 6 📌 11

Enjoy the start of this new adventure! And hopefully I’ll see you soon in Europe ☺️

10.11.2025 16:20 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Many congratulations Wendy, and to the whole team! Excited to see what you discover 🧬

10.11.2025 16:05 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thanks Rob - so pleased to see the first paper from the lab published today ☺️

10.11.2025 15:54 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Left to right: Kirsty Uttley, Hannah Long and Hannah Jüllig at the Institute of Genetics and Cancer, overlooking the city of Edinburgh. Photo credit: Connor Warnock.

To learn more about how this story developed and the researchers behind it, we talked to co-first authors Kirsty Uttley and Hannah Jüllig, as well as corresponding author, Hannah Long
doi.org/10.1242/dev....

10.11.2025 13:04 👍 12 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

Excited to share our new paper out today in Development! Check out Hannah’s fantastic post below for a summary of the findings ✨

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

10.11.2025 14:37 👍 13 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Hannah Long

Latest posts by Hannah Long @hannahlong