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Welcome to the MRC Toxicology Unit

The Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit is a leading International Research Institute within the School of Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge. The Unit delivers mechanistic toxicology research, pursuing hypothesis-driven toxicological questions with a particular focus on the study of the causal links between exposure to endogenous and exogenous toxicants, molecular initiating events and adverse outcome pathways. The Unit's overall aims are to carry out pioneering research which leads to improved health and to train and mentor the next generation of toxicologists.

 

Professor Anne Willis is Director of the MRC Toxicology Unit.  Anne was appointed as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation in 2015, and in 2017 awarded an OBE for services to biomedical sciences and supporting the careers of women scientists.

 

     Professor Anne Willis OBE

News

Tiago Marques-Pedro co-chairs symposium on the Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity

28 October 2025

Tiago Marques-Pedro is a PhD student in the MacFarlane lab who studies mitochondrial toxicity. Tiago had the opportunity to organise and co-chair a Gordon Research Symposium. These symposiums, held the day before the main Gordon Research Conference on a particular topic, give early career researchers the chance to present...

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Unit takes part in Big Biology Day 2025

17 October 2025

Researchers from the Unit brought activities about Nucleic Acid Therapies to the Big Biology Day at Hills Road Sixth Form College on 11th October. Cambridge Biologists have been running the Big Biology Day at Hills Road Sixth Form since 2012 and its now one of the largest events of its kind in the UK! This event combines...

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MRC Toxicology Unit takes part in the Chariots of Fire race.

22 September 2025

The Chariots of Fire race is a relay race for charity that takes a scenic route through some of Cambridge's best known colleges. This year MRC Toxicology Unit members along with those from the Pharmacology Department and Gurdon Institute entered two teams, the Nucleostrides and Toxicology RuNAs. They joined around 300...

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