Dr Sandra Richardson

NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow

Mater Research Institute-UQ
Faculty of Medicine

Overview

I am a Group Leader at Mater Research Institute, heading the Developmental Molecular Genetics Lab. My team investigates the dynamic interplay between mobile DNA sequences and mammalian genomes, with a primary focus on the retrotransposon Long Interspersed Element 1 (L1). L1 sequences are “selfish” genetic entities, which must insert new copies (retrotranspose) in the genomes of cells that will contribute to the next generation. This evolutionary drive sets up a perpetual conflict between L1 propagation and genome stability, which plays out in pluripotent embryonic cells as well as in cells of the developing germline. My ongoing research is focused on elucidating the developmental timing of heritable L1 retrotransposition, and understanding how L1 activity is controlled in these critical niches. I am interested in the capacity of L1 retrotransposition events to generate genetic diversity and drive genome evolution, as well as their contribution to somatic and germline genetic mosaicism and their potential to cause human genetic disease and reproductive dysfunction.

Publications

  • Workman, Stephanie and Richardson, Sandra R. (2024). Every repeat is unique: Exploring the genomic impact of human L1 retrotransposons at locus-specific resolution. Cell Genomics, 4 (2) 100504, 100504. doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100504

  • Patchen, Loral, Mccullers, Asli, Beach, Charmain, Browning, Melanie, Porter, Shy, Danielson, Aimee, Asegieme, Evelyn, Richardson, S. Roxana, Jost, Ali, Jensen, Caitlin Schille and Ahmed, Naheed (2023). Safe Babies, Safe Moms: A Multifaceted, Trauma Informed Care Initiative. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 28 (1), 31-37. doi: 10.1007/s10995-023-03840-z

  • Richardson, Sandra R., Gerdes, Patricia, Gerhardt, Daniel J., Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Bodea, Gabriela-Oana, Muñoz-Lopez, Martin, Jesuadian, J. Samuel, Kempen, Marie-Jeanne H. C., Carreira, Patricia E., Jeddeloh, Jeffrey A., Garcia-Perez, Jose L., Kazazian Jr., Haig H., Ewing, Adam D. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2017). Heritable L1 retrotransposition in the mouse primordial germline and early embryo. Genome Research, 27 (8), 1395-1405. doi: 10.1101/gr.219022.116

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Grants

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Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

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Publications

Featured Publications

  • Richardson, Sandra R., Gerdes, Patricia, Gerhardt, Daniel J., Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Bodea, Gabriela-Oana, Muñoz-Lopez, Martin, Jesuadian, J. Samuel, Kempen, Marie-Jeanne H. C., Carreira, Patricia E., Jeddeloh, Jeffrey A., Garcia-Perez, Jose L., Kazazian Jr., Haig H., Ewing, Adam D. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2017). Heritable L1 retrotransposition in the mouse primordial germline and early embryo. Genome Research, 27 (8), 1395-1405. doi: 10.1101/gr.219022.116

Book Chapter

  • Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Richardson, Sandra R. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2017). Analysis of somatic LINE-1 insertions in neurons. Genomic mosaicism in neurons and other cell types. (pp. 219-251) edited by José María Frade and Fred H. Gage. New York, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7280-7_12

  • Kopera, Huira C., Larson, Peter A., Moldovan, John B., Richardson, Sandra R., Liu, Ying and Moran, John V. (2016). LINE-1 cultured cell retrotransposition assay. Transposons and retrotransposons: methods and protocols. (pp. 139-156) edited by Jose L. Garcia-Pérez. New York, NY, United States: Humana Press . doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3372-3_10

  • Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Richardson, Sandra R. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2016). Retrotransposon capture sequencing (RC-Seq): a targeted, high-throughput approach to resolve somatic L1 retrotransposition in humans. Transposons and retrotranspons: methods and protocols. (pp. 47-77) edited by Jose L. Garcia-Pérez. New York, NY, United States: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3372-3_4

  • Richardson, Sandra R., Doucet, Aurélien J., Kopera, Huira C., Moldovan, John B., Garcia-Perez, José Luis and Moran, John V. (2015). The Influence of LINE-1 and SINE Retrotransposons on Mammalian Genomes. Mobile DNA III. (pp. 1165-1208) Washington, DC, USA: ASM Press. doi: 10.1128/9781555819217.ch51

Journal Article

  • Workman, Stephanie and Richardson, Sandra R. (2024). Every repeat is unique: Exploring the genomic impact of human L1 retrotransposons at locus-specific resolution. Cell Genomics, 4 (2) 100504, 100504. doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100504

  • Patchen, Loral, Mccullers, Asli, Beach, Charmain, Browning, Melanie, Porter, Shy, Danielson, Aimee, Asegieme, Evelyn, Richardson, S. Roxana, Jost, Ali, Jensen, Caitlin Schille and Ahmed, Naheed (2023). Safe Babies, Safe Moms: A Multifaceted, Trauma Informed Care Initiative. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 28 (1), 31-37. doi: 10.1007/s10995-023-03840-z

  • Gerdes, Patricia, Chan, Dorothy, Lundberg, Mischa, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Bodea, Gabriela O., Ewing, Adam D., Faulkner, Geoffrey J. and Richardson, Sandra R. (2023). Locus-resolution analysis of L1 regulation and retrotransposition potential in mouse embryonic development. Genome Research, 33 (9), 1465-1481. doi: 10.1101/gr.278003.123

  • Gerdes, Patricia, Lim, Sue Mei, Ewing, Adam D., Larcombe, Michael R., Chan, Dorothy, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Walker, Lucinda, Carleton, Alexander L., James, Cini, Knaupp, Anja S., Carreira, Patricia E., Nefzger, Christian M., Lister, Ryan, Richardson, Sandra R., Polo, Jose M. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2022). Retrotransposon instability dominates the acquired mutation landscape of mouse induced pluripotent stem cells. Nature Communications, 13 (1) 7470, 1-18. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35180-x

  • Billon, Victor, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J, Rasmussen, Jay, Bodea, Gabriela O, Gerhardt, Daniel J, Gerdes, Patricia, Cheetham, Seth W, Schauer, Stephanie N, Ajjikuttira, Prabha, Meyer, Thomas J, Layman, Cora E, Nevonen, Kimberly A, Jansz, Natasha, Garcia-Perez, Jose L, Richardson, Sandra R, Ewing, Adam D, Carbone, Lucia and Faulkner, Geoffrey J (2022). Somatic retrotransposition in the developing rhesus macaque brain. Genome Research, 32 (7), gr.276451.121-1314. doi: 10.1101/gr.276451.121

  • Bodea, Gabriela O., Ferreiro, Maria E., Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Botto, Juan M., Rasmussen, Jay, Rahman, Muhammed A., Fenlon, Laura R., Gubert, Carolina, Gerdes, Patricia, Bodea, Liviu-Gabriel, Ajjikuttira, Prabha, Kozulin, Peter, Billon, Victor, Morell, Santiago, Kempen, Marie-Jeanne H.C., Love, Chloe J., Palmer, Lucy M., Ewing, Adam D., Jhaveri, Dhanisha J., Richardson, Sandra R., Hannan, Anthony J. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2022). LINE-1 retrotransposon activation intrinsic to interneuron development.

  • Ewing, Adam D., Smits, Nathan, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Faivre, Jamila, Brennan, Paul M., Richardson, Sandra R., Cheetham, Seth W. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2020). Nanopore sequencing enables comprehensive transposable element epigenomic profiling. Molecular Cell, 80 (5), 915-928.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.10.024

  • Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Kempen, Marie-Jeanne H.C., Gerdes, Patricia, Vargas-Landin, Dulce B., Richardson, Sandra R., Troskie, Robin-Lee, Jesuadian, J. Samuel, Cheetham, Seth W., Carreira, Patricia E., Salvador-Palomeque, Carmen, García-Cañadas, Marta, Muñoz-Lopez, Martin, Sanchez, Laura, Lundberg, Mischa, Macia, Angela, Heras, Sara R., Brennan, Paul M., Lister, Ryan, Garcia-Perez, Jose L., Ewing, Adam D. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2019). LINE-1 Evasion of epigenetic repression in humans. Molecular Cell, 75 (3), 590-604.e12. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2019.05.024

  • Salvador-Palomeque, Carmen, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Fortuna, Patrick R. J., Ewing, Adam D., Wolvetang, Ernst J., Richardson, Sandra R. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2019). Dynamic methylation of an L1 transduction family during reprogramming and neurodifferentiation. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 39 (7) e00499-18, 1-19. doi: 10.1128/mcb.00499-18

  • Richardson, Sandra R. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2018). Heritable L1 retrotransposition events during development: understanding their origins: examination of heritable, endogenous L1 retrotransposition in mice opens up exciting new questions and research directions. BioEssays, 40 (6) 1700189, e1700189. doi: 10.1002/bies.201700189

  • Schauer, Stephanie N., Carreira, Patricia E., Shukla, Ruchi, Gerhardt, Daniel J., Gerdes, Patricia, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Nicoli, Paola, Kindlova, Michaela, Ghisletti, Serena, Santos, Alexandre Dos, Rapoud, Delphine, Samuel, Didier, Faivre, Jamila, Ewing, Adam D., Richardson, Sandra R. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2018). L1 retrotransposition is a common feature of mammalian hepatocarcinogenesis. Genome Research, 28 (5), 639-653. doi: 10.1101/gr.226993.117

  • Nguyen, Thu H. M., Carreira, Patricia E., Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Schauer, Stephanie N., Fagg, Allister C., Richardson, Sandra R., Davies, Claire M., Jesuadian, J. Samuel, Kempen, Marie-Jeanne H. C., Troskie, Robin-Lee, James, Cini, Beaven, Elizabeth A., Wallis, Tristan P., Coward, Jermaine I. G., Chetty, Naven P., Crandon, Alexander J., Venter, Deon J., Armes, Jane E., Perrin, Lewis C., Hooper, John D., Ewing, Adam D., Upton, Kyle R. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2018). L1 retrotransposon heterogeneity in ovarian tumor cell evolution. Cell Reports, 23 (13), 3730-3740. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.05.090

  • Richardson, Sandra R., Gerdes, Patricia, Gerhardt, Daniel J., Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Bodea, Gabriela-Oana, Muñoz-Lopez, Martin, Jesuadian, J. Samuel, Kempen, Marie-Jeanne H. C., Carreira, Patricia E., Jeddeloh, Jeffrey A., Garcia-Perez, Jose L., Kazazian Jr., Haig H., Ewing, Adam D. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2017). Heritable L1 retrotransposition in the mouse primordial germline and early embryo. Genome Research, 27 (8), 1395-1405. doi: 10.1101/gr.219022.116

  • Gerdes, Patricia, Richardson, Sandra R. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2016). TET enzymes: double agents in the transposable element-host genome conflict. Genome Biology, 17 (1) 259. doi: 10.1186/s13059-016-1124-8

  • Carreira, Patricia E., Ewing, Adam D., Li, Guibo, Schauer, Stephanie N., Upton, Kyle R., Fagg, Allister C., Morell, Santiago, Kindlova, Michaela, Gerdes, Patricia, Richardson, Sandra R., Li, Bo, Gerhardt, Daniel J., Wang, Jun, Brennan, Paul M. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2016). Evidence for L1-associated DNA rearrangements and negligible L1 retrotransposition in glioblastoma multiforme. Mobile DNA, 7 (1) 21, 1-14. doi: 10.1186/s13100-016-0076-6

  • Gerdes, Patricia, Richardson, Sandra R., Mager, Dixie L. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2016). Transposable elements in the mammalian embryo: pioneers surviving through stealth and service. Genome Biology, 17 (1) 100. doi: 10.1186/s13059-016-0965-5

  • Upton, Kyle R., Gerhardt, Daniel J., Jesuadian, J. Samuel, Richardson, Sandra R., Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Bodea, Gabriela O., Ewing, Adam D., Salvador-Palomeque, Carmen, van der Knaap, Mario S., Brennan, Paul M., Vanderver, Adeline and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2015). Ubiquitous L1 mosaicism in hippocampal neurons. Cell, 161 (2), 228-239. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.03.026

  • Richardson, Sandra R., Doucet, Aurélien J., Kopera, Huira C., Moldovan, John B., Garcia-Perez, José Luis and Moran, John V. (2015). The influence of LINE-1 and SINE retrotransposons on mammalian genomes. Microbiology Spectrum, 3 (2) MDNA3-0061-2014. doi: 10.1128/microbiolspec.MDNA3-0061-2014

  • Richardson, Sandra R., Morell, Santiago and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2014). L1 retrotransposons and somatic mosaicism in the brain. Annual Review of Genetics, 48, 1-27. doi: 10.1146/annurev-genet-120213-092412

  • Richardson, Sandra R., Narvaiza, Iñigo, Planegger, Randy A., Weitzman, Matthew D. and Moran, John V. (2014). APOBEC3A deaminates transiently exposed single-strand DNA during LINE-1 retrotransposition. eLife, 2014 (3) e02008. doi: 10.7554/eLife.02008

  • Richardson, Sandra R., Salvador-Palomeque, Carmen and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2014). Diversity through duplication: Whole-genome sequencing reveals novel gene retrocopies in the human population. BioEssays, 36 (5), 475-481. doi: 10.1002/bies.201300181

  • Carreira, Patricia E., Richardson, Sandra R. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2014). L1 retrotransposons, cancer stem cells and oncogenesis. FEBS Journal, 281 (1), 63-73. doi: 10.1111/febs.12601

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision