Michelle Lawson

Dr. Michelle Lawson is a Senior Lecturer in Bone and Cancer Biology at the University of Sheffield, affiliated with the School of Medicine and Population Health and Department of Oncology and Metabolism. She leads the Sheffield Myeloma Research Team (SMaRT) and serves as School Director of Postgraduate Research.

• BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology, University of Sheffield (1997)
• PhD in DNA Vaccine Adjuvants, University of Bristol (2000)

Research Focus: Myeloma-induced bone disease, tumor cell dormancy, and oncolytic adenovirus therapy. Developed in vivo models for therapeutic evaluation and created novel microscopy techniques to visualize dormant cancer cells in bone. Key contributions include bisphosphonate pharmacology, TGFβ inhibition for bone repair, and purinergic signaling in bone cancer.

Publication Trends: 15 recent works emphasize preclinical models (80%), myeloma bone disease (70%), oncolytic viruses (40%), and metastasis mechanisms (30%). Most studies (90%) utilize murine models for therapeutic testing.

Scientific Recognition:

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Advisory & Grants: Supervises PhD/MSc/BMedSci students. Secured £127,545 from Innovate UK for oncolytic virus preclinical validation and multiple Sheffield Hospitals Charity awards totaling £149,000+ for myeloma therapies.

Labs & Teams: Leads SMaRT group, collaborates with Theolytics on viral therapies, and works with cross-institutional teams on bone cancer mechanisms.