Mark Bailey

Dr Bailey obtained an honours BSc in Zoology at University of Bristol and a PhD in Molecular Physiology at King’s College London. He has worked at University of Glasgow since 1995, in an academic position since 1999. His research interests are in the genetics and molecular pathology of a range of human traits and disorders and he has had an active research interest in Rett syndrome since 1998. His research initially focused on trying to identify the RTT gene and then moved on to the relationship between MECP2 mutation type and severity in RTT (‘genotype-phenotype correlation’). Since 2007 he has been collaborating with Dr Stuart Cobb, now at Univ. of Edinburgh, in efforts to develop therapeutic approaches for RTT founded on a variety of gene-based approaches, including augmentation gene therapy and genome editing. The team led by Dr Cobb was the first to publish evidence for successful amelioration of the RTT-like phenotype in Mecp2 knockout mice, and the team has gone on to refine these approaches, with increasing success, over the succeeding years, partly as part of an RSRT-funded consortium, knowledge from which has informed the design of the first gene therapy clinical trials. Although constrained by teaching/admin tasks, Dr Bailey maintains his collaboration with Dr Cobb and his interests in gene and molecular therapies for RTT and other X-linked single-gene disorders of the brain, as well as his interests in the genetics of complex disorders and traits.