Paul R Clarke

Biography

Paul Clarke is Professor of Cancer Cell Biology. He joined the University of Dundee as a Senior Lecturer in 1998 and was awarded a personal chair in 2005. He has been Research Coordinator for the Biomedical Research Centre (2002-2007) and Head of Research for the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing (2007-2008). Previously he was at the University of Manchester (1994-1998) and was a research fellow in the group of E. Karsenti at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg(1991-1994). As a student, he read Biochemistry at Bristol and carried out research for his PhD with D. G. Hardie at Dundee. Professor Clarke has received a Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award(2003-2008) and research fellowships from The Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK. His research group is funded by Cancer Research UK, Association for International Cancer Research, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and Tenovus Scotland.

Research Interest

The control of cell proliferation and cell survival is critical for the normal development and tissue homeostasis of multicellular organisms. Defects in these processes underlie a number of major human diseases. Cancer is associated with loss of controls over cell division and evasion of cell death. In order to understand how cancer develops and how it may be treated more effectively, we need to understand the molecular mechanisms controlling these processes. Our goal is to understand what determines determine the balance between cell cycle controls and the induction of cell death in response to stress signals, DNA damage and during cell division. We are working in two main areas Control of apoptosis during the cell cycle and in response to anti-cancer drugs Regulation and functions of Ran GTPase