Xin Lu

Professor Xin Lu is Director of Research and Full Member at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Oxford Branch, and Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Oxford. She has held prominent academic positions since 2007 at Oxford, following professorial roles at University College London (2004-2007) and Imperial College London (2000-2004). As Director of the Oxford Centre for Early Cancer Detection and Cancer Theme co-Lead at the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Professor Lu leads significant research initiatives focused on tumor suppression and cellular plasticity.

Professor Lu received her academic training in China and the UK:

• BSc in Biochemistry from Sichuan University, China (1982)
• MSc in Cell and Molecular Biology from Cancer Institute, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing (1985)
• PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Imperial Cancer Research Fund and University College London, London, UK (1991)

Professor Lu's research program centers on understanding molecular mechanisms that control cellular plasticity and suppress tumor growth. With a long-standing interest in the tumor suppressor p53 and the ASPP family of proteins, her work has revealed how cells change characteristics in response to external signals - a process fundamental to cancer initiation, metastasis, and therapy resistance. Her laboratory investigates selective transcription mechanisms, regulators of cellular plasticity in gastrointestinal cancers (particularly esophageal and gastric), and the influence of infections like Helicobacter pylori and Epstein-Barr Virus on cell plasticity and cancer development. The discovery of ASPP proteins as key regulators of p53 function represents a major contribution to the field.

Analysis of Professor Lu's recent publications shows a consistent focus on cellular plasticity mechanisms, p53 family regulation, and the role of ASPP proteins in cancer and developmental disorders. Her work spans molecular, cellular, and tissue-level investigations, increasingly incorporating advanced techniques like single-cell RNA sequencing and organoid models to study cancer initiation and progression.

Professor Lu's significant contributions to science have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards:

• Fellow of the Royal Society (2020)
• CDD Award for her work on cell death (2016)
• Elected Fellow of Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedsci) (2013)
• Elected Supernumerary Fellow of Magdalen College, University of Oxford (2013)
• Elected Member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) (2011)

Professor Lu has served on numerous scientific advisory boards, grant committees, and editorial boards. She has been a Medical Sciences Division Board Member at the University of Oxford since 2010, serves on the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Panel since 2012, and has been a Receiving Editor for Cell Death and Differentiation since 2014. Her leadership extends to organizing major international conferences, including multiple Sino-British Frontier Workshops of Cancer Biology and Ludwig-Nature Conferences on Nuclear Reprogramming of the Cancer Genome.

Professor Lu leads a research group at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Oxford Branch, based at the Old Road Campus Research Building. Her team investigates tumor suppression mechanisms with particular focus on cellular plasticity and selective transcription. The laboratory has made significant contributions to understanding the ASPP family of proteins and their roles in cancer and developmental disorders. Professor Lu's group collaborates extensively with researchers across Oxford University and internationally, particularly with institutions in China.