E-mail: s.godinho@qmul.ac.uk Bluesky: @susanagodinho.bsky.social

Susana Godinho

Professor in Cancer Cell Biology

Susana received her undergraduate degree from the Faculty of Sciences - University of Lisbon. She did her PhD at Gulbenkian Institute of Science (Portugal) and Cambridge University (UK) with Alvaro Tavares and David Glover where she studied the role of Polo kinase during mitosis in Drosophila. She then moved to Boston (USA) to do a postdoc with David Pellman at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School where she become interested in the role of amplified centrosomes during mitosis and cell invasion. Susana started her lab at Barts Cancer Institute - QMUL in 2013.

lisa donker

Postdoctoral Fellow funded by Wellcome Trust

Lisa received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biomedical sciences from the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands). She did her PhD in the lab of Martijn Gloerich at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), where she studied how mechanical forces and cell-cell adhesion influence cell division in epithelial tissues. In December 2021 she moved to London (UK) to join Susana Godinho’s lab at the Barts Cancer Institute (QMUL) as a postdoc. She is interested in understanding the role of microtubules in protein secretion.

E-mail: l.donker@qmul.ac.uk Twitter: @_LisaDonker

E-mail: j.burden@qmul.ac.uk

Jonathan Burden

Postdoctoral fellow funded by CRUK

Jon studied at Cardiff University for a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and a Master’s degree in Cancer Biology and Therapeutics. He then moved to Queen’s University Belfast for a PhD in the Burrows lab, investigating the role of ubiquitin specific protease 17 (USP17) in non-small cell lung cancer and its potential as a therapeutic target. Jon now works as a Postdoc in the Godinho lab at the Barts Cancer Institute, investigating how centrosome amplification interacts with the tumour microenvironment.

wAi yiu (Betty) Tse

Postdoctoral fellow funded by CRUK

Betty obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from King’s College London. She then received her Master’s degree and PhD in Sarah Martin’s lab at Barts Cancer Institute (QMUL), studying the roles of Drosophila Behaviour/ Human Splicing (DBHS) protein family in the DNA damage response. In 2024, Betty joined the Godinho lab as a Postdoc to investigate the role of tubulin acetylation in DNA repair.

E-mail: w.tse@qmul.ac.uk Twitter:

Nikita DavE

Postdoctoral fellow funded by MRC

Nikita did her BSc at the University of Nottingham and MSc at Imperial College London. She then pursued a PhD i in the Friel lab (Nottingham) where she characterised a novel microtubule-inhibiting peptide and laid the groundwork for future investigations into its therapeutic potential. In 2024, Nikita joined the Godinho lab as a Postdoc, where she is currently looking at the involvement of tubulin acetylation in various physiological contexts such as DNA repair and secretion.

E-mail: n.dave@qmul.ac.uk

Matthew Preece

Postdoctoral fellow funded by CRUK

Matt was awarded his Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge. He then moved to the Molecular Epidemiology Lab in QMUL to work as a scientific officer for two years. In 2020 he pursued his PhD in the same lab studying the effects of aspirin on DNA methylation in colorectal cancer. He joined the Godinho Lab as a Postdoc in 2025 and is currently investigating the role of centrosome amplification in tumour evolution using bioinformatic techniques in collaboration with the McGranahan Lab at UCL.

E-mail: d.preece@qmul.ac.uk Twitter:

E-mail: r.e.dryden@qmul.ac.uk Twitter: @RobDryden

Robert Dryden

PhD student funded by RadNet CRUK City of London

Robert received an MSc in Genetic Manipulation and Molecular Cell Biology from the University of Sussex, after having completed his undergraduate degree in Bristol at the University of the West of England. In 2021, he started his PhD in the Godinho Lab with secondary supervision from Prof Gary Royle (UCL) as a CRUK City of London Centre RadNet student. He is investigating radiation-induced centrosome amplification with a focus towards the advancement and application of centrosome-based therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment.

Anna baxter

PhD student funded by CRUK City of London

Anna received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biomedical Science from The University of Sheffield. In 2024 she began her PhD in the Godinho lab as part of the CRUK City of London programme. Her project is looking to understand the role of tubulin acetylation in DNA repair and exploit this to improve response to PARPi-based cancer therapies

E-mail: a.l.baxter@qmul.ac.uk

Postdoc Fellows

Teresa Arnandis Pedro Monteiro Judith Simon Maria Fankhaenel Sam Wallis Julia Frankenberg Garcia

RESEARCH TECHNICIANS

Claire Curel

PhD students

Alex Rhys Sophie Adams Judit Csere Bongwhan Yeon Sarah Duncan (CRF)