skip to content

 

Kiran Patil receives ERC proof-of-concept grant to develop anti-cancer live biotherapeutics

14 July 2025

It was announced today that Dr Kiran Patil, Principal Investigator at the MRC Toxicology Unit, has been awarded €150,000 from the European Research Council (ERC) to develop novel live biotherapeutics for boosting cancer therapy. In this ERC funded project, Kiran’s group will use their expertise in microbial co-evolution to...

Read more

Gut bacteria could protect us from toxic ‘forever chemicals’

30 June 2025

Researchers in the Patil Lab have discovered that certain species of bacteria found in the human gut can take in and store PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’. Boosting these species in our gut microbiome could be a new way to protect us from the harmful effects of PFAS. Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are...

Read more

Drugs and environmental contaminants alter metabolism of gut bacteria

30 June 2025

Scientists in the Patil lab at the MRC Toxicology Unit have identified that some drugs and environmental contaminants alter bacterial amine metabolism. Biogenic amines are linked to diseases including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), neurological disorders and cancer. Understanding how amine production by bacteria is...

Read more

James Thaventhiran selected as one of the 2025 Lister Fellows

17 June 2025

It was announced today that Dr James Thaventhiran, principal investigator at the MRC Toxicology Unit and clinical immunologist has received the prestigious Lister Fellowship award with £300,000 research funding commencing in October. The Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine is dedicated to supporting scientists...

Read more

Anne Willis gives John Barnes Prize lecture at the 2025 BTS Congress

9 May 2025

Yesterday at the British Toxicology Society Congress, our Unit Director Professor Anne Willis delivered the John Barnes Prize lecture, focusing on mechanistic toxicology to improve human health. This award was established in memory of Dr John Barnes, who was the Director from the establishment of MRC Toxicology Unit in...

Read more

A study in fruit flies reveals how aripiprazole, a common antipsychotic medication, has off-target effects on the intestine

15 April 2025

Researchers at the MRC Toxicology Unit have identified that the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole shows similar gastrointestinal side effects in fruit flies as in humans. For the first time they linked the mitochondria damaging effects of aripiprazole to death of the cells lining the intestine. Feeding the flies with an...

Read more

The Toxicology Unit joins two events at the Cambridge Festival

4 April 2025

Last week 25 researchers from the MRC Toxicology Unit took part in two events for the 2025 edition of the Cambridge Festival to share exciting facts about science and engage families with our research. CamFest-25.png The Cambr idge Festival is an annual event that was started over 20 years ago by scientists from the...

Read more

Unit researchers awarded prizes at the joint BTS-BPS Meeting

31 January 2025

Eve Stalker, a PhD student in the Willis Lab, and Dr Miriam Cipullo, a Postdoctoral Fellow joint between AstraZeneca and the MacFarlane Lab at the MRC Toxicology Unit were awarded prizes at the joint BTS-BPS Meeting ‘Toxicology in a New Era of Pharmacology’. The one-day conference brought together experts across...

Read more

Researchers identify new link between mitochondrial dysfunction and the development of COPD

20 December 2024

Researchers in the MacFarlane lab at the MRC Toxicology Unit have identified that a protein called TAp73 controls mitochondrial function in ciliated cells that line our airways. Ciliated cells are essential to clear mucus from our airways to maintain lung function. As this process is defective in diseases such as Chronic...

Read more

Anne Willis awarded the John Barnes Prize for 2025

6 December 2024

Our Unit Director Prof Anne Willis has been awarded the prestigious John Barnes Prize Award from the British Toxicology Society . Prof Willis leads a research group investigating the role of post-transcriptional control in response to toxic injury with a focus on RNA-binding proteins, regulatory RNA motifs and tRNAs and...

Read more