Philip Jones, Programme Leader at the MRC Cancer Unit in Cambridge, is a clinician-scientist whose influential discoveries have fundamentally changed our understanding of tissue homeostasis and its perversion during carcinogenesis. He has developed innovative methods to track the long term fate of proliferating cells in transgenic mouse epithelial tissues, enabling cell behaviour to be quantified in vivo for the first time in any organism. Dr Jones’ insights concerning tissue homeostasis have also impacted the wound-healing field and led to development of predictive models of drug actions on cell fate. His research has had a profound impact on fundamental understanding and clinical application.