Professor Gillian Murphy FMedSci

Gillian Murphy is Professor of Cancer Cell Biology in Cambridge. She is an international leader in the field of metalloproteinases, enzymes that modulate cell:cell and cell:matrix interactions, and has defined their roles in arthritis and cancer. She was involved in pioneering studies that elucidated mechanisms by which cells use endogenous proteinases to control and mould their environment, and has defined the implications for development and disease processes. She established rigorous biochemical and molecular methodologies for the analysis of extracellular matrix degrading proteinases and their natural inhibitors and the systematic evaluation of their structure-function relationships, This work was key to the later development of therapeutic approaches targeting the proteinases in cancer, heart disease and arthritis. Her group developed a comprehensive library of research tools, notably antibodies and assays for the matrix metalloproteinases that have been utilised by the many laboratories interested in degradative diseases. Professor Muprhy has utilised this knowledge in work with many clinical research groups and has been involved in a series of consortia of European laboratories to work on the role of proteinases in cancer and to develop inhibitors, targeting and imaging reagents based on the expression of these enzymes in tumours. In addition to her research she has strong interests in the promotion of better career structures for young scientists and has encouraged her colleagues to develop independent roles within her laboratory. It is a mark of the esteem in which she is held internationally that she was elected Chair of the Gordon Conference on Matrix Metalloproteinases in 1999.