Professor Sarah Teichmann, FMedSci FRS
Using genomics & bioinformatics to decipher immunity
Email: sat1003@cam.ac.uk | Departmental Affiliation: Medicine
Lab Website: https://www.teichlab.org/
Research
Plain English: The Teichmann lab strives to understand how humans are built from our most basic building blocks: our cells. We study how cells are different based on the genes they switch on, their physical location within our organs, how they communicate and how these things influence what they do. Understanding our cells not only allows us to understand how we ‘work’, but how things go wrong in disease and may provide new leads to improve human health. We have a particular interest in the immune system in health and disease. Many of our group are experts in data analysis, building new computational tools to drive our research, and that of the community, forwards. We are a key member of the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) project, of which Sarah Teichmann is co-chair. More information on the HCA can be found here.
Research Focus: Sarah Teichmann is one of the co-founders of the Human Cell Atlas, a global initiative bringing together thousands of scientists to ‘create a comprehensive reference map of the types and properties of all human cells, the fundamental unit of life, as a basis for understanding, diagnosing, monitoring and treating health and disease’ (HCA mission statement). The Teichmann Group studies the composition of human tissues in both healthy and disease states using single cell and spatial genomics, often using cutting-edge methods. Many of the group members have a deep interest in immunology, including tissue-resident immune cells and cross tissue studies. They study the healthy human immune system, how it develops during pregnancy, and how it is modified in disease.
The Teichmann Group is also world-leading in computational analysis and method development. The majority of their staff are ‘dry-lab’ scientists, working on data analysis, new methods and data portals.
Their greatest strength is their people. The members come from around the world and a myriad of different disciplines, working together to push scientific research and technology development. From those just starting out to world-leaders in their field, they are always looking for the best and the brightest to join the team.
In 2024, the Teichmann Lab and collaborators published a suite of papers on the Human Cell Atlas, making the cover of Nature and Nature Medicine (above). See more on the HCA bundle here.
Teichmann Group photo
Figure from Kanemaru & Cranley et al (2023) demonstrating the combination of single cell/nucleus RNA sequencing, spatial genomics and computational analysis / new tool development utilized in the Teichmann lab; in this case to study the human heart.
Key Publications
- Rood JE, Wynne S, Robson L, Hupalowska A, Randell J, Teichmann SA, Regev A. (2025) The Human Cell Atlas from a cell census to a unified foundation model. Nature PMID: 3956655. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08338-4
- Sumanaweera D, Suo C, Cujba AM, Muraro D, Dann E, ..., Oliver AJ, Park JE, Meyer KB, Dumitrascu B, Teichmann SA. (2025) Gene-level alignment of single-cell trajectories. Nat Methods PMID: 39300283. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02378-4
- Teichmann, S., Regev, A., et al (2024). The Human Cell Atlas: towards a first draft atlas. Nature.
- To, K., Fei, L., Pett, J. P., Roberts, K., Blain, R., Polański, K., ... & Teichmann, S. A. (2024). A multi-omic atlas of human embryonic skeletal development. Nature, 635(8039), 657-667 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08189-z
- Zhang, B., He, P., Lawrence, J. E., Wang, S., Tuck, E., Williams, B. A., ... & Teichmann, S. A. (2023). A human embryonic limb cell atlas resolved in space and time. Nature 635(8039), 668–678. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06806-x
- Oliver, A. J., Huang, N., Bartolome-Casado, R., Li, R., Koplev, S., Nilsen, H. R., ... & Teichmann, S. A. (2024). Single-cell integration reveals metaplasia in inflammatory gut diseases. Nature, 635(8039), 699-707. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07571-1
- Yayon, N., Kedlian, V. R., Boehme, L., Suo, C., Wachter, B. T., Beuschel, R. T., ... & Teichmann, S. A. (2024). A spatial human thymus cell atlas mapped to a continuous tissue axis. Nature, 635(8039), 708-718. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07944-6
- Lindeboom, R. G., Worlock, K. B., Dratva, L. M., Yoshida, M., Scobie, D., Wagstaffe, H. R., ... & Teichmann, S. A. (2024). Human SARS-CoV-2 challenge uncovers local and systemic response dynamics. Nature 631, 189–198 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07575-x
- Kanemaru K, Cranley J, Muraro D, …, Teichmann SA. Spatially resolved multiomics of human cardiac niches. Nature. 2023 Jul;619(7971):801-810 PMID: 37438528. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06311-1
- Kumasaka, N., Rostom, R., Huang, N., Polanski, …, Haniffa, M., Marioni, J. C., Stegle, O., Hagai, T., & Teichmann, S. A. (2023) Mapping interindividual dynamics of innate immune response at single-cell resolution. Nat. Genet. PMID: 37308670. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-023-01421-y
- Domínguez Conde, Xu, C., Jarvis, L. B., Rainbow, D. B., [...], Sims, P. A., Farber, D. L., Saeb-Parsy, K., Jones, J. L., and Teichmann, S. A. (2022) Cross-tissue immune cell analysis reveals tissue-specific features in humans. Science. PMID:35549406. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl5197
- Aviv Regev, Sarah A Teichmann, Eric S Lander, .., Fiona Watt, Jonathan Weissman, Barbara Wold, Ramnik Xavier, Nir Yosef, Human Cell Atlas Meeting Participants (2017) Science Forum: The Human Cell Atlas eLife 6:e27041. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.27041
