Shona Wood
Job description
Aurora centre deputy director - Arctic seasonal timekeeping initiative (ASTI)
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Publications outside Cristin
Selected publications
Full list here
1. Wood, S. H., M. M. Hindle, Y. Mizoro, Y. Cheng, B. R. C. Saer, K. Miedzinska, H. C. Christian, et al.
2020. “Circadian Clock Mechanism Driving Mammalian Photoperiodism.” Nature Communications 11 (1):
4291. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18061-z.
2. West, A.C., M. Iversen, E.H. Jørgensen, S.R. Sandve, D.G. Hazlerigg, and S.H. Wood*. 2020. “Diversified
Regulation of Circadian Clock Gene Expression Following Whole Genome Duplication.” PLoS Genetics 16
(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1009097
3. Markussen, Fredrik A S, Vebjorn J Melum, Beatrice Bothorel, David G Hazlerigg, Valerie Simonneaux,
and Shona H Wood*. A refined method to monitor arousal from hibernation in the European hamster. BMC
Vet Res 17, 14 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02723-7
4. Wood, S. H.* The pars tuberalis and seasonal timekeeping. in Neuroendocrine Clocks and Calendars (eds.
Ebling, F. J. P. & Piggins, H. D.) vol. 10 33–53 (Springer International Publishing, 2020).
5. Wood, S.H., H.C. Christian, K. Miedzinska, B.R.C. Saer, M. Johnson, B. Paton, L. Yu, et al. 2015. “Binary
Switching of Calendar Cells in the Pituitary Defines the Phase of the Circannual Cycle in Mammals.” Current
Biology 25 (20). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.014.
6. West, A.C., Mizoro, Y., Wood. S. H., Ince, L.M., Iversen, M., Jørgensen, E.H., Nome, T., Simen Rød
Sandve, Samuel AM Martin, Andrew SI Loudon, David G Hazlerigg, 2021, “Immunologic Profiling of the
Atlantic Salmon Gill by Single Nuclei Transcriptomics”, Frontiers in immunology, 12: 1480
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.669889.
7. Wood, S.H., Loudon, A.S.I., 2014, Clocks for all seasons: unwinding the roles and mechanisms of circadian
and interval timers in the hypothalamus and pituitary, Journal of Endocrinology, 222 (2): R39-R59
https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-14-0141
8. Wood, S.H., van Dam, S., Craig, T., Tacutu, R., O’Toole, A., Merry, B.J., de Magalhães, J.P., Transcriptome
analysis in calorie-restricted rats implicates epigenetic and post-translational mechanisms in neuroprotection and aging. Genome Biol. 16, 285 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-015-0847-2
9. Wood, S. H., Craig, T., Li, Y., Merry, B. & de Magalhães, J. P. Whole transcriptome sequencing of the
aging rat brain reveals dynamic RNA changes in the dark matter of the genome. Age (Dordr). 35, 763–76
(2013). 10.1007/s11357-012-9410-1
10. S. van Dam, R. Cordeiro, T. Craig, J. van Dam, S.H. Wood, J.P. de Magalhães , GeneFriends: An online
co-expression analysis tool to identify novel gene targets for aging and complex diseases. BMC Genomics 13, 535 (2012).
Research interests
Accurate timing and anticipation of seasonal changes is required to initiate physiological adaptations over the course of the year such as hibernation, changes in metabolism, fattening and reproductive activity. To achieve this, organisms have evolved complex seasonal timekeeping systems that rely on day length sensing (photoperiodism), coupled to innate long-term timers ("circannual clock"). The fundamental biological processes giving rise circannual rhythms are not known for any organism. This is a highly integrative topic of wide relevance, integrating multiple levels of understanding from genome to ecosystem. Within this area, my specific interests are:
- The cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in seasonal timekeeping processes
- The adjustment of homeostatic set points in physiology (rheostasis)
- The function of a specialised cell type in the hypothalamus, the tanycyte, in the above processes
- The use of hibernation and maternal photoperiodic programming to investigate the above processes
Current projects:
- Arctic seasonal timekeeping initiative (ASTI), role: Deputy director
ASTI is a capacity-building project to establish UiT as a centre of excellence for research into seasonal timekeeping mechanisms. This fills a strategic gap in chronobiology research worldwide, and is an excellent fit to UiT as the world’s northernmost research university. See the website for themes and specific research projects: https://uit.no/research/asti
- Tromsø Forskningsstiftelse (TFS) starter grant: Epigenetic light, role: project leader
Website. The project aim was establish my lab in seasonal timekeeping and hibernation at the university of Tromsø. Specific areas of research were the epigenetic basis of seasonal timing, the role of circadian clocks in seasonal timekeeping, and maternal photoperiodic programming effects.
- Sentinel North Transdisciplinary Research Program Université
Laval and UiT, The role of circadian clocks in seasonal synchrony in the Arctic, role: Co-PI
This is a comparative circadian/seasonal clockwork project with an emphasis on birds, fish and diatoms.
- Clocks and hypoxia: Linking oxygen to time, role: Co-PI
This is a project investigating the role of circadian clocks and hypoxia in a
diving mammal (hooded seal) . It uses high-resolution respirometry of mitochondria, astrocyte/neuronal culture techniques, and lentiviral
reporters to unpick responses to hypoxia in a highly hypoxia-tolerant
animal.
Teaching
I have been assessed by pedagogisk mappe to have basic competence in teaching. I have taught in molecular biology, chronobiology and physiology since 2004.
At UiT I have coordinated BIO-3014 and co-piloted BIO2310. Currently I teach on BIO-3030 and BIO-3014. I have extensive project supervision experience.
Member of research group
CV
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Family name, First name: Wood, Shona
Researcher unique identifier(s): orcid.org/0000-0002-8273-4045
Date of birth: 21st October 1982
Nationality: British
URL for web site: uit.no/research/asti
RESEARCH TRACK RECORD
I moved to Norway in 2017, having previously worked as a Research Co-investigator in the world leading centre for Biological Timing (2015-Sept 2017) at Manchester University. There, I co-led a research program
focused on circannual timer mechanisms, alongside Professor Andrew Loudon (University of Manchester) and Professor David Burt (Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh). Within this setting, I gained considerable experience in combining long term in vivo studies, endocrine physiology and cutting edge transcriptomic and epigenomic approaches. This combined approach continues to be a hallmark of my research philosophy. I have now been running my lab at the University of Tromsø for 4.5 years, funded by a Tromsø Forskningsstiftelse (TFS) Research Fellowship (€2.5 million, started October 2017), Fonds Paul Mandel pour
les recherches en neurosciences (2019 €36000), Norwegian research council travel award (€8000) and the Aurora outstanding fund (€25000). In 2019, I took a strategic decision to focus on hibernation, leading to the
establishment of Norway’s first hibernation research facility.
In 2020, I became co-director of the Arctic seasonal timekeeping initiative (ASTI). This is a large strategic investment (approx. 2.3 million euros) by UiT to develop a centre for seasonal timekeeping. ASTI provides the highest critical mass of researchers working on seasonal physiology in the world. Within ASTI we have excellent light- and temperature-controlled facilities for animals, cell culture, surgery and molecular biology facilities.
EDUCATION
2010 Ph.D, Veterinary Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK
2004 B.Sc (Hons), Zoology, University of Wales, Bangor, UK
CURRENT POSITION(S)
2022 – to date Associate Professor, Arctic seasonal timekeeping initiative (ASTI), Faculty of Biosciences, fisheries & economics, Department of Arctic & Marine Biology, UiT –The Arctic University of Norway
2017-to date Honorary lecturer, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, UK
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
2017- 2021 Independent Research Fellow, Faculty of Biosciences, fisheries & economics, Department of Arctic & Marine Biology, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway
2013-2017 Post-doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, UK
2010-2013 Post-doctoral Researcher, Biosciences, University of Liverpool, UK
2005-2006 Research Technician, Medical faculty, University of Manchester, UK
FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, GRANTS
2021-2025 Arctic seasonal timekeeping initiative (ASTI), UiT – The Arctic university of Norway, 2.3 million EUROS, Role: Deputy director & PI
2020-2022 Biologging for 3Rs science, UiT – The Arctic university of Norway, 3000,000 EUROS, Role: Project leader
2017-2023 Epigenetic light, Tromsø Forskningsstiftelse (TFS) starter grant, 2.5 million EUROS, Role: Project leader
2019-2022 The role of circadian clocks in seasonal synchrony in the Arctic, Sentinel North Transdisciplinary Research Program Université Laval and UiT, 450,000 EUROS, Role: Co-PI
2019-2024 Clocks and hypoxia: Linking oxygen to time, UiT – The Arctic university of Norway, 600,000 EUROS, Role: Co-PI
2019 Aurora outstanding operative funds, Funds to run an international overwintering biology meeting, 10,000 EUROS (Cancelled due to Covid-19)
2019 Aurora outstanding operative funds, Human activity and libido in the polar night and day, 15, 000 EUROS, Role: Project leader
2019 Research council of Norway Overseas research grant: Hypothalamic tanycytes as epigenetic calendars, 8000 EUROS, Role: Project leader
2018 Fonds Paul Mandel pour les recherches en neurosciences: Hypothalamic tanycytes as epigenetic calendars. Co-financement award for a cotutelle doctoral student between UiT and University of Strasbourg (Valerie Simonneaux). Total grant value 36000 EUROS. Role: Project leader
2017 - 2019 Tromsø Forskningsstiftelse (TFS) & UiT Infrastructure grant, Total value equivalent to 400,000 EUROS, Role: Project leader
2016 Norwegian Research Council PES-midler Horizon 2020: Funds to support the application to an ERC starter grant, 10,000 EUROS awarded (K26015) May 2016
2008 Pet Plan pump priming award for Genome Wide Association Study 10,000 EUROS, Principal investigator
SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
2022 – to date 1 post-doctoral researcher, 4 Masters students, UiT- The Arctic University of Norway
2021 – to date 1 post-doctoral researcher, 1 Masters student (May 2022 finish), UiT- The Arctic University of Norway
2021 – to date 2 part-time research technicians, UiT- The Arctic University of Norway
2018 – to date 4 PhD students, UiT- The Arctic University of Norway
2018 – 2021 2 Masters students, 4 undergraduate research projects, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway
2013-2107 1 PhD student, 2 undergraduate research projects and mentoring of two postdoctoral researchers, University of Manchester, UK
2010-2013 2 PhD students, 3 Masters students and 1 undergraduate research project, University of Liverpool, UK
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2019 - to date Lecturer, 805 teaching hours per academic year, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway
REVIEWING ACTIVITIES
2021 PhD & Masters thesis examiner, UiT: The Arctic University of Norway
2019 - to date External expert advisory board member for the EU project AQUA-FAANG
2019 Scientific evaluation board external reviewer for Norwegian University of Life Sciences
2010 to date Scientific peer reviewer for Current biology, Plos Biology, Journal of Endocrinology, Journal of Neuroendocrinology, General and comparative endocrinology, Molecular ecology
MEMBERSHIPS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
2020 – to date Ordinary member, International Hibernation Society
2013 – to date Ordinary member, British society for Neuroendocrinology
2013 – to date Ordinary member, European society for Biological rhythms research
SELECTED INVITED ORAL PRESENTATIONS (last 5 years)
2021 De Leidse Biologen Club (LBC), Test of time symposia, “A clock for all seasons”, 29th May 2021
2020 New Frontiers in Basic Science: Applying New Technology to Endocrine Research, Endocrine society, Virtual meeting, December 2-3, 2020 “Epigenetics in seasonal time keeping”
2020 European open science foundation, Virtual meeting/press conference
“Circadian clock mechanism driving mammalian photoperiodism”
2018 International Congress of Neuroendocrinology, Toronto, Canada “Epigenetics of Seasonal Timing in the Pituitary”
2017 Invited seminar at Norwegian University of Life sciences: NMBU “ChIP for all seasons”
2016 28th conference of European comparative endocrinologists, Leuven, Belgium “The role of the circadian clock in seasonal timing”
2015 Invited seminar at the University of Strabourg, France “Binary switching of calendar cells”
2015 Invited seminar at the University of Tromsø, Norway “Seasonal timekeeping mechanisms in mammals”
2015 European Biological Rhythms Society (EBRS), Manchester, UK
“Mechanisms driving circannual rhythms in mammals”