Dr. Phil Jones is clinician scientist who researches how somatic mutations linked to cancer alter the behavior of normal stem cells in normal skin and esophagus in the earliest stages of cancer development. He is Professor of Cancer Development at the University of Cambridge UK and a Senior Group Leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute UK and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences. His work encompasses mapping mutant clones in human tissues and modelling the effects of mutations in advanced cell cultures and mice. Integrating experiment with computational modelling has revealed how simple cell dynamics explain both normal and mutant cell behavior. Using molecular and cellular assays to uncover the basis of mutant cell fitness has guided the development of interventions to halt the expansion or deplete oncogenic mutant clones from normal tissues, with the potential benefit of reducing cancer risk. His latest work shows how mutant clones can eliminate tumors at the earliest stages of carcinogenesis. Phil’s clinical practice is in skin cancer.
