Dr Mark Southwood

Mark joined the MRC Toxicology Unit in January 2022 as the Histopathology Core Facility Manager. Prior to this Mark undertook Post-Doctoral Research at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where he provided histopathological support for a number of portfolio National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), British Heart Foundation and InnovateUK funded projects. Between 2010 and 2014 Mark was a NIHR Chief Scientific Officers Healthcare Scientist Post-Doctoral Fellow exploring the utility of novel biomarkers for Pulmonary Hypertension with the Pulmonary Vascular Diseases Unit at Royal Papworth Hospital and the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. Prior to this Mark worked as an Advanced Biomedical Scientist, specialising in Histopathology and Immunohistochemistry.

Marks first degree in 1999 was in Biomedical Science at Anglia Polytechnic University (now Anglia Ruskin University), followed by a PhD, investigating The Regulation of Bone Morphogenetic Signalling in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Vascular Development at the University of the West of England in Bristol. In 2015 Mark undertook an MSt. in Genomic Medicine at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.

Mark has a wide range of research interests and enjoys the technical challenges that laboratory-based studies bring. Prior to joining the Toxicology Unit he studied pulmonary vascular diseases, exploring the consequences of genetics and inflammation on blood vessel function. In addition, Mark has worked on a number of oncology studies as well as technical projects improving strategies for DNA sequencing of histopathological lung cancer samples.