Our vision
We aim to harness the breadth of expertise in genomic stability at the ICR to develop new and better therapies against cancer to make the most meaningful impact in clinics.
Our themes
The Centre's main themes are as follows.
The molecular mechanisms of Genome Stability Maintenance
Investigating how the maintenance of genome stability is accomplished throughout the cell cycle by a complex network of proteins referred to as the DNA-damage response (DDR) pathways. Mutations in DDR factors are associated with elevated cancer predisposition and also underly phenotypes of many aging-related diseases.
Understanding the replication stress responses
Investigating how cells control DNA replication with the highest possible fidelity in order to prevent catastrophic changes to their genome. We aim to understand how DNA replication and repair machineries function and how these processes differ in cancer cells.
Integrative Systems Biology of cancer and aging
Developing tools to interrogate large data sets of genetic, genomic and proteomic information to generate hypotheses for experimental analysis, with the ultimate goal of understanding the changes that occur to the genomes and proteomes of cells as they transition to a cancerous or aged state.
Genome instability and cancer therapeutics
Investigating new dependencies within the DDR pathways that may represent targetable vulnerabilities in cancer cells, with a major focus on synthetic-lethal interactions and over-reliance on DDR pathways allowing for selective killing of cancer cells.