Rate My Professor Hilary Ashe

The Ashe laboratory investigates the regulation of BMP signalling and its role in development using Drosophila as a model. Research encompasses dynamic gene expression responses to BMP gradients, extracellular modulation by factors such as collagen IV, integrins, Tolloid proteases, and Twisted gastrulation, and post-transcriptional control of germline stem cell fate via miRNAs and repressors like Brat. Key publications include 'Ovarian germline stem cell dedifferentiation is cytoneme dependent' (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2025), 'An avidity-driven mechanism of extracellular BMP regulation by Twisted gastrulation' (Development, 2026), 'Dynamics of hunchback translation in real time and at single mRNA resolution in the Drosophila embryo' (Development, 2021), 'Modulation of the Promoter Activation Rate Dictates the Transcriptional Response to Graded BMP Signaling Levels' (Developmental Cell, 2020), 'Extensive polymerase pausing during Drosophila axis patterning enables high-level and pliable transcription' (Genes & Development, 2013), 'Type IV Collagens regulate BMP signalling in Drosophila' (Nature, 2008), and 'Robustness of the BMP morphogen gradient in Drosophila embryonic patterning' (Science, 2002). Her contributions, supported by Wellcome Trust Discovery Awards (e.g., 2016, 2023) and BBSRC grants, advance understanding of signalling networks relevant to human developmental disorders and align with Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being.