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Expert has spent the past 10 years leading pathogen genome projects at the Sanger Institute. He has more than 75 publications (including 15 genome papers). He has driven data standards in genome research, for instance by developing technology for genome improvement and computational tools for curation.

Expert was originally trained in Biochemistry and then completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship on Trypanosoma brucei at Rockefeller University, before joining the Sanger Institute as a senior computer biologist in 2000, initially to work on annotating and analysing the genomes of P. falciparum and T. brucei. His current research concerns the breadth of parasites, particularly the medically important Apicomplexan and Kinetoplastid protozoa, which include malaria parasites and trypanosomes, respectively, and parasitic helminths.

Comparative genomics techniques are used, firmly anchored around one or two high quality, and manually reviewed genomes to place biological phenomena in a genomic context. In 2008, he joined the Sanger Institute faculty to lead a programme in the genomics of Neglected Tropical Disease parasites, which include parasitic helminths such as Schistosomes, tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms, threadworms and whipworms.