Professor Jason Parsons acquired his BSc and PhD in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK. He had postdoctoral research experience at the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester, at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Radiation and Genome Stability Unit in Harwell, and worked as a Senior Investigator Scientist at the CRUK/MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology at University of Oxford. Jason began his independent research at the University of Liverpool in 2012, moving to the University of Birmingham in 2023 as Chair of Radiobiology. Jason is currently Director of Cancer Research UK RadNet Birmingham, Interim Head of the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham, and Chair of the Association for Radiation Research (ARR).

The Parsons Research Group focuses on analysing the molecular and cellular impact of different sources of radiotherapy (X-rays, proton beam therapy, boron neutron capture therapy) with increasing ionisation densities (linear energy transfer/LET) that display different biological effectiveness. To enable this, the University of Birmingham houses unique radiation sources in the UK/Europe, including the MC-40 cyclotron and the high-flux accelerator-driven neutron source, plus substantial radiobiology infrastructure. The impact of the various radiotherapies are being explored on tumour models, particularly of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, adult and paediatric brain (glioblastoma and diffuse midline glioma, respectively). There is a specific focus on analysing the effects of these radiotherapies on DNA damage, plus the signalling and repair pathways responsive to this.

 

Our goal is the identification of strategies using combinatorial drugs/inhibitors leading to optimal radiotherapy efficacy, particularly using protons and high-LET radiation, in cancer treatment. Other interests include mechanisms of hypoxia-induced radioresistance and analysing the radiobiology of ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy. Our research is currently being funded by Cancer Research UK and the National Institutes of Health (US), and in collaboration with industry partners, including AstraZeneca and Tenboron.