Professor Jason Parsons BSc, PhD

• PhD in Medical Biochemistry, 2000
• BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry, 1996

Professor Parsons acquired a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry (1996) and a PhD in Biochemistry (2000) from the University of Birmingham. He then worked as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Cancer Research UK Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester (2000-2002), and at the Medical Research Council Radiation and Genome Stability Unit in Harwell (2003-2007). He subsequently worked as a Senior Investigator Scientist at the Cancer Research UK/Medical Research Council Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology at the University of Oxford, UK (2008-2012). During his postdoctoral studies, he gained knowledge of the cellular responses to DNA damage induced by ionising radiation, and particularly pioneered novel research identifying molecular mechanisms involving the ubiquitin proteasome pathway that control the levels of key proteins during the repair of DNA base damage and single strand breaks through the Base Excision Repair pathway.

Professor Parsons began his own independent research group in the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine at the University of Liverpool (2012), where he was awarded an MRC New Investigator Research Grant. He became Honorary Lead for Radiobiology Research at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (2019), and then Professor and Chair in Radiation Biology at the University of Liverpool (2022). Here he gained an interest and expertise in proton beam therapy and examining the radiobiology of protons versus photons used in conventional radiotherapy. This research has expanded into identifying the molecular and biological consequences of radiation of increasing ionisation densities (linear energy transfer, LET) on tumour models, including those of the head and neck plus the adult brain (glioblastoma). 

Professor Parsons moved to the University of Birmingham in 2023, as Professor of Radiobiology jointly appointed through the College of Medicine and Health and the College of Physics and Astronomy. The Parsons Group continues to focus on analysing the molecular and cellular impact of different sources of radiotherapy (photons, protons and particle ions) with varying LET on head and neck and glioblastoma tumour cell models, and ultimately to the identification of strategies using combinatorial drugs/inhibitors leading to the optimisation of the efficacy of radiotherapy in cancer treatment.

Previous PhD students successfully supervised as primary supervisor:-

• Cornelia Meisenberg (2008-2012; University of Oxford).
• Laura Bennett (2013-2017; University of Liverpool).
• Sarah Williams (2014-2018; University of Liverpool).
• Jonathan Hughes (2015-2019; University of Liverpool).
• Eleanor Madders (2017-2021; University of Liverpool).
• Eirini-Terpsi Vitti (2017-2021; University of Liverpool).

Current PhD students (in Birmingham, unless otherwise stated) as primary supervisor:-

• Jennifer Antrobus (2019-present University of Liverpool).
• Sifaddin Konis (2019-present University of Liverpool).
• Chumin Zhou (2018-present University of Liverpool).
• Rhianna Hill (2020-present University of Liverpool).
• Emma Melia (2021-present).
• George Duffield (2021-present). 

Professor Parsons is interested in supervising doctoral research students in the following areas:-

• The radiobiology of protons and particle ions in tumour cell models.
• Discovering novel cellular drug targets that can lead to enhanced tumour cell radiosensitisation.
• The impact of hypoxia in driving radioresistance of tumours and strategies to overcome this.
• The molecular and cellular effect of ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy.     

If you are interested in studying any of these subject areas, please contact Professor Parsons directly, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email mds-gradschool@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

Radiotherapy is used to treat ~50 % of all human cancers, however resistance to treatment and acute or long-term adverse side effects remain a major problem. Conventional X-ray (photon) radiotherapy is largely utilised for solid tumours, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and those of the adult brain (glioblastoma, GBM), although there is increasing interest in particle ion therapy (such as protons) that can more precisely deliver the radiation dose to the tumour and minimise the effects to the associated normal tissues and organs at risk. However, there is still biological and clinical uncertainty with protons and other particle ions due to the increased ionisation densities (linear energy transfer, LET) that can have contrasting effects on cells and tissues compared to conventional photon radiotherapy.

Current projects include:-

• Comparing the radiobiology of photons, protons and particle ions (with increasing LET) in HNSCC and GBM cell models.
• Discovering novel cellular targets for drugs/inhibitors that can enhance the radiosensitivity of HNSCC and GBM tumour cells to different types of radiotherapy.
• Examining the impact of hypoxia in driving radioresistance of HNSCC and GBM tumour cell models, and devising novel strategies using combinatorial treatments to overcome this.
• Understanding the radiobiology of ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy and biological factors leading to the “FLASH” effect.

• Vice-Chair of the Association for Radiation Research (ARR) (2022-present).
• Member of the Scientific Evaluation Committee of the proposals for “Multi-thematic and multi-disciplinary research Reducing Radiation Therapy Side-Effects and Improving Quality of Life” organized by the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) (2022-present).
• Scientific Member of the UK Ion Therapy Research Facility (ITRF) Advisory Committee (2021-present).
• Associate Editor for Frontiers in Oncology (2021-present)
• Editorial Board Member of Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine (2020-present).
• Editorial Board Member of Radiation (2020-present).
• Scientific Committee Member of the Association for Radiation Research (ARR) (2020-present).
• Member of the Scientific Evaluation Committee of the proposals for “Cancer Biology and Basic Sciences” organized by the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) (2020-present).
• General Member of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad) (2019-present).
• Member of the Centre for Clinical Application of Particles (CCAP) (2019-present).
• Editorial Board Member of Cancers (2019-present).
• Member of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) (2018-present).
• Member of the Association for Radiation Research (ARR) (2017-present).
• Full member of the Radiation Research Society (RRS) (2008-present).