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 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 University of Birmingham in 2023, as Professor of Radiobiology jointly appointed through the College of Medicine and Health and the School 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 a primary supervisor (in the University of Birmingham unless otherwise stated):

• Cornelia Meisenberg (2008-2012; University of Oxford) – The role of ubiquitylation in regulating APE1
• Laura Bennett (2013-2017; University of Liverpool) -Epigenetic mechanisms involved in the cellular response to DNA damage processed by BER
• Sarah Williams (2014-2018; University of Liverpool) - Molecular mechanism of regulation of the cellular protein levels of NTH1 in response to DNA damage
• Jonathan Hughes (2015-2019; University of Liverpool) – Ubiquitylation-dependent regulation of OGG1
• Eleanor Madders (2017-2021; University of Liverpool) – HECTD1 promotes BER in nucleosomes through chromatin remodelling
• Eirini-Terpsi Vitti (2017-2021; University of Liverpool) - Targeting DNA DSB repair sensitises HNSCC cells to ionising radiation
• Chumin Zhou (2018-2022; University of Liverpool) - Investigating radiosensitivity of HPV-positive and HPV-negative HNSCC spheroids by PARP Inhibition
• Jennifer Antrobus (2019-2023; University of Liverpool) - HDAC inhibition increases the radiosensitivity of HPV-negative HNSCC cells
• Sifaddin Konis (2019-2023; University of Liverpool) - Characterisation of the role of TRIM26 in the cellular DNA damage response
• Rhianna Hill (2020-2024; University of Liverpool) -Investigating the molecular mechanisms driving hypoxia-induced radioresistance of HPV-negative HNSCC
• Emma Melia (2021-2025) – Utilising cell cycle checkpoint kinase inhibitors to increase HNSCC radiosenstivity to X-ray and proton radiation
• George Duffield (2021-2025) – Investigating the impact of low and high-LET radiation on DNA replication dynamics in HNSCC

Current PhD students as a primary supervisor:

• Leah Punshon (2023-present) - Exploring BNCT to optimise the response of head and neck cancers
• Laura Hawkins (2023-present) – Optimising the radiosensitivity of uveal melanoma cells through targeting DNA damage repair
• Alex Bembridge (2023-present) - Investigating proton FLASH radiotherapy for head and neck tumour treatment
• Bethany Mackinnon (2024-present) - Investigating BNCT for the treatment of GBM
• Megan Sewell (2025-present) - Exploiting the potential of protons and high-LET radiation in DMG
• Lauren Jones (2025-present) - Boron neutron capture therapy in head and neck cancer

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

• The radiobiology of protons, helium ions and BNCT 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 (glioblastoma, GBM) and paediatric (diffuse midline glioma, DMG) brain. However, there is increasing use and interest in particle ion therapy that can more precisely deliver the radiation dose to the tumour, more effectively kill the tumour cells but minimise the effects to the associated normal tissues and organs at risk. This includes proton beam therapy (PBT) and boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT).

Despite the strong potential for these alternative and more targeted radiotherapies, there is still biological and clinical uncertainty with their effective use in cancer treatment. For example, protons and other particle ions display increased ionisation densities (linear energy transfer, LET) that can have contrasting effects on cells and tissues compared to conventional photon radiotherapy. Also dose rate delivery (FLASH) and biological factors (such as hypoxia) can have major influences on both the tumour response but also the associated normal tissue damage.

Through University of Birmingham’s unique accelerator sources and radiobiology infrastructure, we are utilising preclinical models of HNSCC, GBM and DMG to understand the treatment (both alone and in combination with targeted drugs/inhibitors) that has the best therapeutic potential for cancer treatment whilst limiting any adverse side effects.

Current projects

• Comparing the radiobiology of photons, protons (with increasing LET) and BNCT in HNSCC, GBM and DMG cell models.
• Discovering novel cellular targets for drugs/inhibitors that can enhance the radiosensitivity of tumour cell models to the different types of radiotherapy.
• Examining the impact of hypoxia in driving radioresistance of 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.

• Director of Cancer Research UK RadNet Birmingham (2025-present)
• Member of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Equipment panel (2025-present)
• Chair of the Association for Radiation Research (ARR) (2024-present)
• Deputy Chair of the Scientific Translational Committee of the Head and Neck Cancer International Group (HNCIG) (2022-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)
• 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)