DNA repair nucleases: mechanism and potential for therapeutic inhibition

Speaker: Prof. Peter McHugh

Host: Prof. LI Lei

Venue: Room 457 (Lecture Hall), Nami Building, Zijingang Campus

Profile of the speaker: 

Prof. Peter McHugh is an esteemed DNA repair scientist whose groundbreaking work has significantly advanced our comprehension of interstrand-crosslinks (ICLs) removal mechanisms. 

He started on his academic journey with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1991 and awarded his PhD in 1996 from the University of Oxford. Following this, Dr. McHugh devoted five years to post-doctoral research at the University College London before returning to Oxford as a Tenure-track scientist. Today, he is Director of Oncology Laboratories at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford.

Dr. McHugh’s primary interest is to understand how repair of damaged DNA is controlled during chromosome duplication, and why potentially dangerous changes in the behavior of cells can occur when this process goes wrong. He wishes to use this improved knowledge of DNA damage and its repair to improve treatments for cancer. His works were published on prestigious academic journal such as Nature, Molecular Cell, Nucleic Acid Research, Journal of Biological Chemistry, etc.