Dr Wills Barrell
Biography
I completed my BSc in Oral and Craniofacial Biology and PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology at King’s College London (2018), in the laboratory of Prof. Karen J Liu. I then undertook out my first postdoctoral position investigating the role of GSK-3 in neural crest cell development (Liu and Krause Labs, KCL, 2018-2022). Next, I worked with the MRC National Mouse Genetics Network, as a postdoctoral fellow within the Congenital Anomalies Cluster. Here, our team modelled congenital disorders using genetic mouse models for diagnosis and discovery research (KCL, 2022-2026). In February 2026, I joined the University of Portsmouth as a Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences and established my independent research programme.
Research interests
I study how inherited or de novo gene variants cause congenital anomalies and degenerative conditions. Specifically, I am interested in a class of disorders called Ciliopathies that are caused by structural or functional perturbations of non-motile or motile cilia. When non-motile ciliary signalling is affected by these gene variants, affected individuals can present with craniofacial, digits, limb, and other skeletal anomalies. Additionally, degenerative or progressive conditions such as polycystic kidney disease, retinal degeneration, and obesity can manifest. To investigate how these occur this I use a variety of model systems: human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and genetically engineered mouse and Xenopus models.
My research has two main aims:
- To understand the fundamental necessity of cilia-associated genes during development and disease progression.
- To aid genetic diagnosis of rare disorders through functional characterisation of suspected pathogenic gene variants.
Research outputs
2025
The primary cilia: Orchestrating cranial neural crest cell development
Yamaguchi, H., Meyer, M. D., Barrell, W. B., Faisal, M., Berdeaux, R., Liu, K. J., Komatsu, Y.
13 Mar 2025, In: Differentiation. 142, 10p., 100818
Research output: Article
2024
Ciliary and non-ciliary functions of Rab34 during craniofacial bone development
Yamaguchi, H., Barrell, W. B., Faisal, M., Liu, K. J., Komatsu, Y.
10 Sep 2024, In: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 724, 6p., 150174
Research output: Article
The Fuzzy planar cell polarity protein (FUZ), necessary for primary cilium formation, is essential for pituitary development
Lodge, E. J., Barrell, W. B., Liu, K. J., Andoniadou, C. L.
1 Feb 2024, In: Journal of Anatomy. 244, 2, p. 358-367
Research output: Article
2023
GSK3 and Lamellipodin balance lamellipodial protrusions and focal adhesion maturation in mouse neural crest migration
Dobson, L., Barrell, W., Seraj, Z., Lynham, S., Wu, S., Krause, M., Liu, K.
26 Sep 2023, In: Cell Reports. 42, 9, 27p., 113030
Research output: Article
Identification of distinct subpopulations of Gli1‐lineage cells in the mouse mandible
Zhang, N., Barrell, W. B., Liu, K. J.
1 Jul 2023, In: Journal of Anatomy. 243, 1, p. 90-99
Research output: Article
2022
Local depletion of proteoglycans mediates cartilage tissue repair in an ex vivo integration model
Gentleman, E., Merrild, N., Holzmann, V., Ariosa-Morejon, Y., Faull, P. A., Coleman, J., Barrell, W., Young, G., Fischer, R., Kelly, D., Addison, O., Vincent, T., Grigoriadis, A.
1 Sep 2022, In: Acta Biomaterialia. 149
Research output: Article
Identification of a novel variant of the ciliopathic gene FUZZY associated with craniosynostosis
Barrell, W. B., Al-Lami, H. A., Goos, J. A. C., Swagemakers, S. M. A., van Dooren, M., Torban, E., van der Spek, P. J., Mathijssen, I. M. J., Liu, K. J.
1 Mar 2022, In: European Journal of Human Genetics. 30
Research output: Article
2021
Differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells to the neural crest lineage
Paka, C., Barrell, W., Monsoro-Burq, A., Liu, K.
11 Jun 2021,
Research output: Chapter (peer-reviewed)
Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (alk), a neuroblastoma associated gene, is expressed in neural crest domains during embryonic development of Xenopus
Moreno, M. M., Barrell, W. B., Godwin, A., Guille, M., Liu, K. J.
1 Jun 2021, In: Gene Expression Patterns. 40, 10p., 119183
Research output: Article