Chris Toseland

Professor Chris Toseland is a Professor of Cancer Biophysics at the University of Sheffield’s School of Medicine and Population Health. His academic units include the Academic Unit of Clinical Medicine. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the MRC National Institute for Medical Research (2009) and a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (2006). His research integrates biophysics, mechanobiology, and genomics to study nuclear myosins, DNA damage responses, and gene regulation. Key focuses include the role of nuclear myosins in transcription, chromatin organization, and the mechanical properties of the nucleus.

Research interests span fluorescence microscopy, single-molecule imaging, and super-resolution techniques to dissect molecular mechanisms. Notable contributions include uncovering how NDP52 activates nuclear myosin VI to enhance RNA polymerase II transcription and elucidating the role of nuclear mechanics in DNA damage repair. His work bridges cell biology, biochemistry, and biophysics to address fundamental questions in cancer biophysics.

Awards include the MRC Career Development Award Fellowship (2019), Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowship (2015), and EMBO Long-Term Fellowship (2010–2013). He leads a multidisciplinary team and collaborates with institutions globally. Current grants include funding from the MRC, Cancer Research UK, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council. His lab investigates nuclear actin filaments, mechanotransduction, and the interplay between 3D environments and nuclear dynamics.

Grants and collaborations support studies on nuclear architecture, DNA repair, and the development of CRISPR-based tools for tunable DNA damage. His team includes postdocs Dr. Natalia Fili, Dr. Rosemarie Gough, and PhD student Ália dos Santos. Future work aims to further characterize nuclear myosin roles in transcription factories and chromatin rearrangements, with applications in cancer therapy and mechanobiology.