Peter Parker

Biography

Professor Peter Parker, based at the Francis Crick Institute, is studying the signals that tell cells when to multiply and when to die. These signals are often faulty in cancer, causing cells to grow out of control and fail to die when they should. Inside cells, signals can be passed on by the addition of molecular 'tags' to proteins - a process known as phosphorylation. Professor Parker and his team are investigating protein phosphorylation and how these signals can misfire in cancer cells. In particular, they are focusing on a family of proteins called Protein Kinase C (PKC), which plays a key role in this process. Understanding the role that PKC plays in cancer could be a springboard for developing powerful future cancer treatments

Research Interest

Cancer biology