Prof Ron Laskey FRS

Ron Laskey is a cell biologist and cancer researcher whose work is focused on DNA replication and the transport of proteins and other molecules into and out of the cell nucleus. His research has contributed to the understanding of fundamental cellular processes and their relevance to cancer.

Laskey studied with Sir John Gurdon, and his DPhil research demonstrated that adult frog tissues, including skin, contain pluripotent cell nuclei. He subsequently developed a research programme centred on the mechanisms of DNA replication and nuclear transport. His studies identified DNA replication proteins that are more abundant in cancer cells than in healthy cells, leading to their use as markers for detecting cancer. This work has informed the development of screening approaches for the early diagnosis of cancer.

During the 1980s, two of Laskey’s papers on radioisotope detection in biochemical samples became among the 100 most cited papers in the scientific literature. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1984.

He was Charles Darwin Professor of Embryology from 1983 to 2011 and is a Fellow of Darwin College. In 1991, he was one of the founders of the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research Campaign Institute, now the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute. He also founded the Medical Research Council Cancer Cell Unit in 2001 and served as its Director until 2010. From 2001 to 2010, he was Honorary Director of the MRC Cancer Cell Unit.

He has held several leadership roles within the scientific community, including President of the Biochemical Society, President of the British Society for Cell Biology and Vice-President of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

His honours include the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (1998), the Royal Society’s Royal Medal (2009), appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2011 for services to science, election as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (2013), and the Cancer Research UK Lifetime Achievement Prize (2014). He has also been appointed an Officer of the French National Order of Merit.