Alastair Smith
Postdoctoral Researcher
I joined the Milne lab in 2018 after completing my PhD in the lab of Joan Boyes at the University of Leeds in 2018, where I investigated the temporal regulation of V(D)J recombination. My current research investigates the emergence of novel enhancers in leukaemia, with a focus on MLL-AF4 Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL).
I use a wide variety of high-throughput techniques (ChIP-seq, low cell number ChIPMentation, ATAC-seq, RNA-seq and Capture-C ) together with machine learning and other bioinformatic methods to better understand the regulation of chromatin and gene expression.
Recent publications
Menin maintains enhancer-promoter interactions in a leukemia-specific manner
Preprint
Sharlandjieva V. et al, (2026)
A genome-wide screen identifies Runx2 as a novel regulator of hematopoietic stem cell expansion and T-cell commitment.
Journal article
Meaker GA. et al, (2025), Blood, 146, 3188 - 3200
Enhancer heterogeneity in acute lymphoblastic leukemia drives differential gene expression in patients.
Journal article
Smith AL. et al, (2025), Blood, 146, 2073 - 2087
PROM1/CD133 marks a proliferative stem cell-like population of blasts in KMT2A rearranged infant ALL.
Journal article
Cross JW. et al, (2025), Blood Adv, 9, 4607 - 4613
Iron deficiency causes aspartate-sensitive dysfunction in CD8+ T cells.
Journal article
Teh MR. et al, (2025), Nat Commun, 16