Thomas Helleday is the Söderberg Professor of Translational Medicine and Chemical Biology at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden heading the division of Translational Medicine and Chemical Biology located at Science for Life laboratories. Thomas Helleday started his own independent research groups at the Institute for Cancer Studies, University of Sheffield, UK in 2000, only a year after completing a PhD in Genetic Toxicology and a separate BSc in Business Administration and Economics. At the age of 35 years old he was already installed as professor at three Universities; Stockholm University, University of Sheffield and at the University of Oxford. Professor Helleday heads a multidisciplinary translational research group focusing on understanding basic DNA repair and DNA-damage signaling pathways at replication forks and developing novel drugs for anti-cancer treatments. The group was first to demonstrate a novel concept for treating cancer called “synthetic lethality” established by the selective killing of BRCA mutated breast and ovarian cancers by PARP inhibitors. The research group is currently divided into teams focusing on basic science, biology, biochemistry, in vitro assays, medicinal chemistry and in vivo pharmacology. The work is focussed on bench to bedside and the group motto is ‘turning cancer defects into cures’. Professor Helleday has been awarded numerous eminent international grants and awards in recognition of his research accomplishments including the Eppendorf-Nature Young European Investigator Award (2005) for outstanding contribution within the field of biomedical science by the journal Nature and the prestigious ERC advanced grant (2010). He is currently been awarded a total of about EUR 15 million in research grants.

 Oncology