Gavin obtained a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from King’s College London and then a Ph.D. in Genetics from University College London.
Between 1987 and 1995, he was a post-doc at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, where he held a long-term post-doctoral fellowship from EMBO (1987-1999).
In 1995, Gavin joined the Babraham Institute as a Group Leader, holding an MRC senior (non-clinical) fellowship from 1995-2005. He came to Babraham to develop screens for imprinted genes. In addition to discovery of a number of new imprinted genes, Gavin has investigated imprinted gene effects in growth, metabolism and behaviour, and in human disease.
His group currently focuses on understanding how DNA methylation is established in mammalian germ cells and the early embryo, and the effects of ageing and diet on stability of DNA methylation.
In addition to his role as a Group Leader at Babraham, Gavin is affiliated to the University of Cambridge Centre for Trophoblast Research (www.trophoblast.cam.ac.uk), and is currently an Associate Editor of Clinical Epigenetics and a Faculty 1000 Member for Epigenetics & Epigenomics.