Dr Grant Dewson

Grant obtained his PhD in the Department of Infection Immunity and Inflammation at the University of Leicester studying the mechanisms of eosinophil persistence in asthma with Prof Andrew Wardlaw. Following his PhD, he shifted his research focus to investigate the underlying causes of cancer working with Prof Gerry Cohen at the Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit (Leicester) investigating chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. 

To pursue his research interest in the molecular mechanisms of the fundamental cell death process known as apoptosis, in 2003, he joined the laboratory of Dr Ruth Kluck at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (Melbourne, Australia) to investigate how disarming this process is essential for cancers to develop.

In 2011, he was appointed laboratory head in the Cell Signalling and Cell Death Division where his lab aims to clarify the molecular mechanisms regulating apoptosis and also mitophagy (mitochondria quality control), and how these processes go awry to promote cancer and other diseases. The ultimate aim of his research is to exploit this knowledge to identify novel therapeutic avenues to treat diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and stroke.