Andrew J Cassidy

Biography

Andrew James Cassidy completed his first Degree at the University of Abertay, later moving to the University of Dundee to complete an MSc in Molecular Biology followed by a PhD in Molecular Genetics. While carrying out this research work he initiated and developed the University’s first DNA Sequencing Facility. Now Director of the Tayside Centre for Genomic Analysis he continues to develop and expand the range of services on offer to the clinical and academic communities in and beyond Dundee.

Research Interest

As Director of the TCGA my research interests are as wide and varied as my colleagues who use the facility. My most recent area of research is in the field of male infertility with Professor Chris Barratt where we took a Whole Exome Sequencing approach to looking at sequence variation in a local cohort of patients. Prior to that, my research work was in the field of human epithelial genetics with Professor Irwin McLean looking at Molecular Genetics and Structure-Function Analysis in Human Epithelial Disorders. Within this project I identified the gene responsible for Acral Peeling Skin Syndrome as well as being actively involved in looking for the causative genes in a variety of epithelial disorders that alter the structure, function or differentiation of epithelial tissues. Additionally, in collaboration with the Centre for Molecular Medicine in Singapore, I constructed an online database of human intermediate filament variants. The database is accessible via the Internet at http://www.interfil.org and provides a fully searchable relational database of variant information. In November 2007 I completed my PhD and continue to collaborate with Professor McLean on this subject. As Director of the Tayside Centre for Genomic Analysis (TCGA) I continue to support a variety of research projects across the University.