Biochemical Journal Young Investigator Award winner

Dr Grant Stewart

Dr Grant Stewart did his Ph.D. in the laboratory of Professor Malcolm Taylor (University of Birmingham) studying the function of the ATM protein during the cellular response to DNA damage and how specific mutations associated with a mild clinical phenotype affected its activity. During the course of his studies, he discovered that mutations in the hMRE11 gene could give rise to human disease with clinical symptoms indistinguishable from Ataxia-Telangiectasia.

Grant subsequently moved to Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas) as a post-doctoral research fellow to continue his research on how the cell responds to DNA damage in the laboratory of Professor Stephen Elledge. During this time, he independently discovered, along with two other laboratories, the DNA damage mediator protein, MDC1, and demonstrated its role in recruiting components of the hMre11 complex, 53BP1 and BRCA1 to sites of DNA damage.

Following his return to the University of Birmingham, he obtained a CR-UK career development fellowship, which allowed him to start up his own laboratory. His group consists of one post-doctoral research fellow, a technician and two Ph.D. students, one of which is also funded by CR-UK. The focus of his laboratory is understanding how defects in pathways activated by DNA double strand breaks contribute to human disease and the development of cancer, in particular those regulated by the DNA damage mediator proteins, MDC1 and 53BP1. One aspect of this work has lead to the discovery of a novel human DNA repair disorder, called RIDDLE syndrome, which is caused by defects in the ubiquitin-dependent arm of the cellular damage response.