Many species and roles of non-coding RNA have been identified. Our goal is to understand how non-coding RNAs regulate development, physiology and disease. We are exploring microRNA in the pathology of cancer and other diseases, RNA interference in viral immunity, Piwi- interacting RNA in germline development and genome integrity, and endogenous small interfering RNA in epigenetic inheritance – where we predict a big impact in understanding human health.

Our model organisms are the nematode worm, the cichlid fishes of the Rift Lakes of East Africa, mouse, and human cell culture. More recently we have developed a technology to assess RNA structure and RNA–RNA interactions in living systems. We used this to uncover unexpected biology for the Zika virus, and key regulatory mechanisms for SARS- CoV-2.