With the support of the UNSW Cellular Genomics Futures Institute, Tim Mercer will apply this expertise to design synthetic controls for single-cell RNA sequencing. He intends to develop internal synthetic RNA isoforms and quantitative adaptors that can accurately measure differences in gene expression between individual cells. These methods aim to improve the accuracy of single-cell sequencing, enable reliable use in clinical applications, and integrate the massive expansion of single-cell datasets anticipated over the next decade.