He is Professor of Developmental Neurobiology in the Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology and the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders . His research has provided insights into the causes of developmental defects of the thymus, kidney, cardiovascular system and cerebellum and has been published in top international journals.
The current focus of the Basson laboratory is to uncover the function of chromatin remodelling factors in brain development and to understand how mutation of these factors cause neurodevelopment disorders and intellectual disability. They have identified key roles for the chromatin remodelling factor CHD7, mutated in CHARGE syndrome, in development of the cerebellum and gene dosage-sensitive roles for the autism-associated factor CHD8 in development of the neocortex.