Neil Brockdorff

Neil Brockdorff is a biologist who studies gene and genome regulation in mammalian development. A major focus of his work is to elucidate the molecular basis of X chromosome inactivation, the process that evolved in mammals to equalize X chromosome gene expression levels in XX females relative to XY males.

Neil Brockdorff demonstrated that an unusual functional RNA molecule, Xist, controls the X inactivation process. Building on this finding he has elucidated key steps in Xist gene regulation during early development and has defined major pathways through which Xist RNA induces chromosome-wide gene silencing.

Neil Brockdorff is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow based in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford. He is a member of EMBO and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biologists and the Academy of Medical Sciences.