Dr Carl Anderson
Head of Human Genetics and Senior Group Leader
I am fascinated by what human genetic variation can tell us about disease: why it develops, why people experience it differently, and how we might treat it more effectively. Genetics provides a powerful starting point for identifying causes and mechanisms. My ambition is to turn those discoveries into biological understanding and better care for patients.
I established my group at Sanger in 2009 to investigate the genetic basis of immune-mediated disease, particularly inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Since then, we have contributed to the discovery of hundreds of genetic associations and helped reveal biological pathways underlying disease susceptibility. Our research has expanded from mapping common risk variants to identifying rare changes in protein-coding genes, and from studying susceptibility to understanding differences in disease course and severity.
I am a technophile: I enjoy exploring what new technologies allow us to ask and discover. We have used genotyping arrays to map common disease-associated variants, whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing to identify rare variants, and sequencing of individual intestinal crypts to investigate somatic mutations and cellular evolution in IBD. We are also investigating somatic mutations in immune cells.
Establishing an experimental team alongside our computational research was a pivotal decision. It brought new expertise into the group and enabled us to investigate genetic effects directly in patient samples. Through IBDverse, we have used single-cell RNA sequencing to connect genetic variation to gene activity in specific cell types from the gut and blood. We are extending this work with long-read single-cell sequencing to investigate how genetic variation and inflammation influence the different RNA transcripts cells produce. Our research now also draws on serum proteomics, spatial transcriptomics and organoid models.
What interests me is how these approaches complement one another: using genetics to identify a biological mechanism, examining its effects in patient tissues, and following patients over time to understand its relationship with disease course and treatment response. Bringing people with different expertise together has been essential to making this possible.
An increasingly important goal is to use our understanding of disease to predict what happens next: who will develop severe disease, who will respond to a particular treatment, and when a change in care might be needed. Through longitudinal studies such as Open-IBD and IBD-RESPONSE, we can follow patients over time, connecting their genetic and molecular profiles with subsequent clinical outcomes. I am interested in how AI and machine learning can integrate these data to develop robust, clinically useful predictions that support earlier, better-informed decisions.
Close partnerships with clinicians and patients shape this work. Through the IBD BioResource and our wider collaborations, we have also worked to return clinically significant genetic findings to participants. Identifying monogenic causes of IBD in adults, and findings relevant to health beyond IBD, provides an immediate opportunity for genomic research to inform individual care.
As Head of Human Genetics, I work with colleagues to shape our scientific direction and support ambitious, collaborative research. I believe science is more enjoyable and productive when people share ideas generously, challenge one another constructively and bring different perspectives to a question.
Supporting researchers’ development is an important part of my career. I served as Sanger’s Director of Graduate Studies from 2014 to 2023, and care about creating an environment where people can develop confidence, pursue independent ideas and find a direction that reflects their strengths and interests.
For more about our research, people and opportunities to work with us, visit the Anderson lab website.
My timeline
Appointed Head of Human Genetics
Appointed Interim Head of Human Genetics
Appointed Director of Postgraduate Studies at the Sanger Institute
Promoted to Group Leader at the Sanger Institute
Appointed Junior Group Leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute
Started postdoctoral fellowship at the Wellcome Trust Centre of Human Genetics, Oxford
Submitted PhD thesis (Genetic analysis of age-at-onset traits)
Moved to Queenland Institute of Medical Research to continue PhD research
Started PhD research at the University of Edinburgh (under supervision of Peter Visscher)
Started MSc in Genetic Epidemiology at the University of Sheffield
Started BSc in Biomedical Science at University of Sheffield