Summary
Professor Ferrer is chair in Genetics and Medicine, Head of the Section of Epigenomics and Disease, and Lead for Genetics and Genomics in the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre. He is also a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator. He received his medical degree and trained in Endocrinology in the University of Barcelona School of Medicine. He subsequently trained in genetics and transcriptional regulation in Washington University and Harvard University before returning to Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, and CIBERDEM. He then moved to Imperial College London where he established a laboratory based at Imperial Centre for Translational and Experimental Medicine. Since 2018, he is Senior Group Leader in Barcelona's Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG).
Professor Ferrer is interested in understanding genome regulation of pancreatic beta cells and its implications for human diabetes. His team has combined genetic model systems and advanced genomics to address key questions in human beta cell biology, regeneration, and disease.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Ferrer J, Dimitrova N, 2024, Transcription regulation by long non-coding RNAs: mechanisms and disease relevance., Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol
Beucher A, Miguel Escalada I, Balboa D, et al., 2022, HASTER lncRNA promoter is a cis-acting transcriptional stabilizer of HNF1A, Nature Cell Biology, Vol:24, ISSN:1465-7392, Pages:1528-1540
Atla G, Bonas-Guarch S, Cuenca-Ardura M, et al., 2022, Genetic regulation of RNA splicing in human pancreatic islets, Genome Biology, Vol:23, ISSN:1474-7596, Pages:1-28
Miguel-Escalada I, Maestro MÁ, Balboa D, et al., 2022, Pancreas agenesis mutations disrupt a lead enhancer controlling a developmental enhancer cluster., Developmental Cell, Vol:57, ISSN:1534-5807, Pages:1922-1936.e9
Rovira M, Atla G, Maestro MA, et al., 2021, REST is a major negative regulator of endocrine differentiation during pancreas organogenesis, Genes & Development, Vol:35, ISSN:0890-9369, Pages:1229-1242
Akerman I, Maestro MA, De Franco E, et al., 2021, Neonatal diabetes mutations disrupt a chromatin pioneering function that activates the human insulin gene, Cell Reports, Vol:35, ISSN:2211-1247
Kalisz M, Bernardo E, Beucher A, et al., 2020, HNF1A recruits KDM6A to activate differentiated acinar cell programs that suppress pancreatic cancer, EMBO Journal, Vol:39, ISSN:0261-4189
Miguel-Escalada I, Bonàs-Guarch S, Cebola I, et al., 2019, Human pancreatic islet three-dimensional chromatin architecture provides insights into the genetics of type 2 diabetes, Nature Genetics, Vol:51, ISSN:1061-4036, Pages:1137-1148
Akerman I, Tu Z, Beucher A, et al., 2017, Human pancreatic β cell incRNAs control cell-specific regulatory networks, Cell Metabolism, Vol:25, ISSN:1932-7420, Pages:400-411
Ferrer J, Cebola I, Rodríguez-Seguí SA, et al., 2015, TEAD and YAP regulate the enhancer network of human embryonic pancreatic progenitors, Nature Cell Biology, Vol:17, ISSN:1476-4679, Pages:615-626
Pasquali L, Gaulton KJ, Rodriguez-Segui SA, et al., 2014, Pancreatic islet enhancer clusters enriched in type 2 diabetes risk-associated variants, Nature Genetics, Vol:46, ISSN:1546-1718, Pages:136-+
Conference
Cuenca-Ardura M, De Vas M, Balboa D, et al., 2022, Genome-wide CRISPR screens identify therapeutic targets for HNF1A-deficient diabetes, SPRINGER, Pages:S162-S162, ISSN:0012-186X