Dr Alexis Barr was awarded this year’s Women in Cell Biology Early Career Medal Winner by the British Society for Cell Biology at the 90th Harden Conference in April 2024. The WICB Early Career Medal was established in 2015 to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the BSCB. It is an annual honour awarded to an outstanding female cell biologist who has started her own research group in the UK within the last six years.
Alexis is a Group Head here at the MRC-LMS running the Cell Cycle Control lab with her team. She is also a CRUK Career Development Fellow and MRC Investigator at the Institute of Clinical Sciences and MRC-LMS , Imperial College London. In addition she is Co-Director of Postgraduate studies at the MRC-LMS, cofounder of the LMS Roving Researcher programme and a mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation supporting young people from underprivileged, low socioeconomic backgrounds to succeed in STEM.
Alexis said of her award “I’m so honoured to be awarded this medal by the BSCB. The first ever conference I attended (as a Masters student) was the BSCB Spring meeting and the buzz and energy there confirmed my drive to pursue a career in research. To be nominated and selected by my peers is very, very touching”. ”
Dr Alexis Barr
Alexis received her PhD from the CRUK Cambridge Institute in the lab of Dr Fanni Gergely investigating centrosomal functions. After her PhD, she moved to the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) to the team of Prof. Chris Bakal. There she became interested in exploring the mechanisms controlling entry into the cell cycle. Using single-cell imaging she embarked on a collaboration with Bela Novak at the University of Oxford which resulted in her 2016 paper exploring how cells switch irreversibly into S-phase (the G1/S transition), from growing to replicating DNA. This irreversibility ensures that DNA is copied once, and only once, during the cell cycle and ensures the integrity of DNA. Alexis’ later work showed how cells can enter spontaneous quiescence (akin to a cell sleeping) in response to naturally occurring DNA damage that a cell can accrue during the cell cycle. Entry into quiescence allows cells time to repair the damaged DNA to prevent the accumulation of DNA mutations. Her latest research has explored how certain cancer drugs (CDK4/6 inhibitors, used in breast cancer treatment) are able to keep exerting an anti-tumour effect even once therapy has ceased.
In September 2018, Alexis established her own research team and was awarded a CRUK Career Development Fellowship. Her lab is deciphering how human cells enter and exit the cell cycle and using that information to manipulate cancer cell proliferation for better cancer treatment.
Alexis contributes to science beyond the lab and was instrumental in establishing our MRC-LMS “Roving Researcher” programme, with her colleagues Michelle Percharde and Toby Warnecke. Providing cover for Postdocs on long-term career leave, including parental leave, the Roving Researcher has been immensely successful in helping to tackle some of the reasons people leave academia. Alexis’ commitment to making sure everyone has the opportunity to pursue a career in STEM and breaking down barriers to do that continues outside of work where she is a busy mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation, mentoring multiple young people from working class backgrounds to progress in STEM.
We couldn’t be prouder of the work of Alexis and her team and are delighted to celebrate the news of her well-deserved medal award. Congratulations Alexis!
