DNA repair and DNA damage signalling The main focus of research in our lab is to better understand how cells detect DNA damage and signal its presence to the DNA repair, transcription and cell cycle machineries. We believe that a deeper knowledge of these pathways will yield a better understanding of the diseases that can arise when such pathways are lost ? such as hereditary and sporadic cancer, neurodegeneration, developmental defects, immune deficiencies, infertility and premature ageing ? and will suggest new strategies for treating such diseases more effectively.