Elaine Johnstone

I am a Translational Research Scientist and have worked in the Department since 2006. I have a BSc in Medicinal Chemistry, an MSc in Molecular Pathology and Toxicology and a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology. My PhD at the Cancer Research Unit, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, was the seed of the start of a career researching drug pharmacology, pharmacodynamics and personalised/precision medicine. After a  postdoctoral fellowship studying differential drug response in sarcoma at the University of Bordeaux, my Oxford career initially focussed on cancer prevention, via optimising smoking cessation therapies.  We aimed to tailor these towards the individual  by studying nicotine metabolic pathways and reward-gene variation. I then adapted my expertise to identify biomarkers of prognosis and of treatment effectiveness within clinical trials (predominantly colorectal cancer) in the Department of Oncology.

My current role has a teaching focus, having worked on the MSc in Experimental Therapeutics MSc for more than 15 years, I now lead a module on Biomarkers and am also the Deputy Director. I really enjoy teaching and supervising students and am interested in Educational Research also.  I recently achieved a Distinction in the PGCert in Higher Teaching and Learning at the University of Oxford.