People

Principal Investigator (Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow)

Shane studied for his PhD at the University of Leeds in 2006 and was then awarded a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship in 2007 to support postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Didier Stainier at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In 2011, Shane was awarded a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship and moved to the University of Manchester to establish his own laboratory. More recently, in 2020 Shane became a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Georgia joined the Herbert lab as a Postdoc in October 2020 after studying for both an MBiolSci in Biochemistry and Genetics and a PhD at the University of Sheffield. During her PhD, in the Hettema lab, she developed an interest in asymmetric cell division and organelle inheritance, using budding yeast as a model organism. Since joining the Herbert lab, Georgia has continued her research interests and now uses angiogenic tip cell migration in Zebrafish embryos as a model for asymmetric cell division. She also uses Human endothelial cells and a variety of in vitro and in vivo techniques to investigate the inheritance of key cellular factors such as organelles in asymmetric cell division.

Screenshot_20190918-234945 — George Charalambous

Postdoctoral Researcher

George first started in the Herbert lab as a PhD student in September 2019, and then as a postdoctoral researcher in 2024. His project aims to define the interaction between cell shape dynamics and the molecular networks orchestrating endothelial cell fate decisions during angiogenic sprouting. In turn, this will allow him to investigate a potential role of cell shape dynamics as spatiotemporal modulators of angiogenesis. Cutting-edge in vivo molecular tools such as optogenetics and the CRISPR/Cas9 system will be used to achieve these aims, utilising the zebrafish vasculature as a model system.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Brendan joined the Herbert Lab in 2020 as a PhD student and is now continuing as a postdoctoral researcher from 2025. His research investigates how asymmetric cell division drives divergent cell fate decisions during vascular development. By combining transgenic zebrafish models, live imaging, and quantitative analysis, Brendan studies how asymmetric divisions can regulate the specific induction of venous blood vessel branching

BBSRC PhD student

Mujtaba joined the Herbert lab in 2021, as a BBSRC-funded PhD student. His project aims to understand how developing tissues retain integrity during development. In particular, how cells can rapidly re-establish post-cytokinetic cell-cell junctions to maintain tissue structure. Of note, his project utilises in vivo live imaging, as well as in vitro micropatterning studies, to understand the role of cell shape dynamics in the control of these events.

BBSRC PhD student

Wednesday started her research journey as an MSci Physics with Biophysics student at King’s College London, followed by a move to the Herbert lab in 2025 to start her PhD studentship. Her project focuses on the role that cell shape dynamics play in controlling the mode and outcome of cell division. In particular, she aims to use both zebrafish embryos and micropatterning tools to define the morphological cues that trigger asymmetric cell divisions, as well as how these divisions impact cell fate and function.

Recent Alumni