Our Research

Maintaining genome integrity is one of the greatest challenges for all living creatures on Earth, in the face of constant attack from many endogenous and exogenous sources of DNA damage. Genome maintenance is remarkably efficient in eukaryotes, yet tumour cells are riddled with mutations and structural rearrangements in their chromosomal DNA, highlighting the importance of understanding the intimate links between genome integrity and human cancer.

Our division studies the molecular mechanisms that allow cells to make a near-perfect copy of each chromosome during every cell cycle, repairing damage along the way, so that the two copies can be segregated faithfully during mitosis. We also study links between chromosome replication and the epigenetic establishment of cell identify, together the regulation of key cell cycle transitions and cellular senescence by phosphorylation and ubiquitylation. These processes underpin our understanding of human cancer development and evolution and suggest new ideas for anti-cancer therapies.