The club celebrates member Martin Humphries, awarded an OBE for his contributions to cancer research.
About Martin Humphries
Martin Humphries has worked at the University of Manchester since 1988, and from 2008-2016 he was Vice-President & Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences. The long-term aim of the research conducted in Martin’s laboratory is to understand how the behaviour of human cells is regulated by their surrounding environment.
Significance of Research
Much of the body consists of a fibrous, deformable material known as the extracellular matrix, within which cells are embedded. When cells stick to this matrix, it allows them to move and grow. These processes are especially significant in cancer, where the extracellular matrix is typically abnormally stiff. Such stiffness contributes to the enhanced growth and invasive spread that characterise tumours. By figuring out how the cellular environment controls these behaviours, Martin aims to identify ways in which key aspects of tumour biology might be normalised.
Acknowledgements
His work has been recognised previously by his election as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of Biology, and a member of Academia Europaea.
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