Joe is a PhD student in the Haniffa lab based at the Sanger Institute. He aims to genetically perturb the skin organoids to better understand the roles of specific genes in skin development. He also aims to model inherited skin diseases in a dish using the skin organoid system. Joe has experience in iPSC culture, organoid models, and single cell assays.

Joe completed his BSc/MBiol in Pharmacology at the University of Leeds studying the potential role of a neural stem cell-like population within the spinal cord. He then worked as an ARA in the Cellular and Gene Editing R&D team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute conducting a population-scale using iPSC-derived microglia. This work aimed to understand the genetic architecture of multiple neuroinflammatory cell traits in microglia and identify causal links with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. He joined the Haniffa lab in 2024.

In his spare time Joe enjoys playing ice hockey, reading Discworld novels and cooking new recipes.