Mathew Garnett

Dr. Mathew Garnett is a Group Leader in Translational Cancer Genomics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, where he was appointed to the Faculty in 2014. His research focuses on understanding how genetic alterations in cancer cells impact responses to anti-cancer therapies, with the goal of developing more precise cancer treatments. He leads the Garnett Group within the Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation Programme and is a key member of the Cancer Dependency Map initiative.

Dr. Garnett's educational background includes:

• BSc. in Biochemistry (Hons.) from the University of British Columbia, Canada (1999)
• PhD from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK (2005), where he worked on BRAF as a human cancer gene
• Postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge with Prof. Ashok Venkitaraman, supported by a Canadian Institute of Health Research fellowship

Dr. Garnett's research spans four complementary areas: the genomics of drug sensitivity, synthetic-lethal dependency mapping, organoid cancer models, and tumor-immune cell interactions. His lab performs high-throughput drug sensitivity screens across >1000 cancer cell models, genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screens to identify new drug targets, and develops next-generation organoid models that better capture tumor heterogeneity. His work integrates molecular cell biology, high-throughput screening, and cancer genomics to identify biomarkers that predict drug response and discover new therapeutic targets. His team has developed three major public resources: the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC), Project Score database, and Cell Model Passports.

Analysis of Dr. Garnett's recent publications (2024-2025) reveals a strong focus on precision cancer medicine through genomic approaches. His work spans cancer dependency mapping using CRISPR screens, development of advanced cancer models including organoids, and identification of novel therapeutic targets and drug combinations. Key themes include synthetic lethality in microsatellite unstable cancers (particularly targeting WRN helicase), mechanisms of drug resistance, tumor-immune interactions, and computational approaches to integrate multi-omic data for precision oncology.

Dr. Garnett's research has generated widely used reference datasets for the scientific community and has directly contributed to the development and testing of new cancer therapies. His work on identifying Werner Syndrome helicase as a synthetic-lethal target in microsatellite unstable cancers has led to the development of novel WRN Helicase Inhibitors. His team's databases (GDSC, Project Score, and Cell Model Passports) serve as critical resources for cancer researchers worldwide.

Dr. Garnett leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers and has fostered numerous collaborations, including with the Open Targets partnership, Cancer Research UK, and the Human Cancer Models Initiative. His lab has developed innovative methods for cancer modeling and drug screening that have advanced the field of precision oncology. He is also a member of the scientific leadership team for Open Targets and the Cancer Research UK drug discovery small molecule expert review panel.

The Garnett Lab maintains state-of-the-art facilities for robotics, acoustic dispensing, high-content microscopy, and CRISPR screening, enabling high-throughput approaches to cancer research. Through international collaborations like the Human Cancer Models Initiative, his team is generating and characterizing new patient-derived cancer models that better capture tumor heterogeneity for therapeutic development.