Rate My Professor Diego Villar Lozano

Dr. Diego Villar Lozano is a Non-clinical Senior Lecturer at the Blizard Institute, Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. He graduated in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, and earned his PhD in Molecular Biology under Prof. Luis del Peso, focusing on signalling and gene expression responses to hypoxia in mammalian cells. Following his doctorate, he conducted postdoctoral research at the National Centre for Biotechnology in Madrid with Jose Ramón Naranjo, investigating transcriptional alterations in neurodegeneration. He then joined Dr. Duncan Odom’s laboratory at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, applying functional genomics to study the evolution of transcriptional enhancers across mammals. In 2018, Dr. Villar Lozano received a British Heart Foundation Basic Science Fellowship, enabling him to establish his independent research group at the Blizard Institute.

Dr. Villar Lozano's research centres on gene regulation in mammals, exploring underlying mechanisms in normal physiology and their disruptions in human disease, particularly cardiovascular conditions. His work integrates functional genomics, bioinformatics, and molecular biology to dissect transcriptional dynamics, enhancer evolution, and epigenomic influences on disease susceptibility. Notable contributions include leading studies on enhancer evolution across 20 mammalian species (Cell, 2015), evolution of transcription factor binding (Nature Reviews Genetics, 2014), and complexity of regulatory landscapes in mammalian gene expression (Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2018). His publications have garnered significant citations, with his top paper exceeding 900 citations. Current projects investigate non-coding contributions of human genetic variation to heart muscle diseases using comparative genomics, iPSC models, and transgenic mice, alongside adaptations in stress-resistant species like African mole-rats. He supervises postdoctoral scientists and students, funded by the British Heart Foundation, and delivers seminars on genomics and gene regulation at institutions including King's College London and Imperial College London. His expertise spans hypoxia, neurodegeneration, mammalian evolution, and cardiovascular epigenetics.