!!Richard White - Biography
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__Employment__ \\
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My first full-time, tenure-track faculty position was at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Cornell University Medical College, where I rose to the rank of Associate Professor. In 2022 I accepted a position at Ludwig Cancer Research, University of Oxford. As most of my laboratory could not relocate to the UK, I maintained a joint appointment between Sloan Kettering and Oxford for two years, splitting my time between both. During this period, I was promoted to Full Professor at Oxford. In 2024 my appointment at Sloan Kettering concluded, and I am now full-time at Oxford as Professor of Genetics.\\
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__Research summary__\\
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I am a physician-scientist trained in cancer genetics, with a research focus on cancer cell plasticity – the ability of cancer cells to adopt phenotypes beyond those dictated by DNA sequence alone. This plasticity underlies tumour initiation, metastasis and drug resistance. Although no longer clinically active, my experience caring for patients has informed my approach to basic science and the questions my laboratory addresses.\\
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My group pioneered the use of zebrafish as a cancer model, taking advantage of their transparency to image the very first cancer cell in vivo. We have invested heavily in technological development in this system, including advanced genetic engineering and imaging approaches. In parallel, we have developed human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) models of melanoma, enabling efficient differentiation into melanocytes and precise oncogenic engineering, adding translational relevance.\\
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Using these complementary models, we have addressed the long-standing question of why, when, and where tumours arise – phenomena not explained by DNA mutations alone. Through a series of linked studies, we introduced the concept of oncogenic competence, encompassing developmental and epigenetic cell state, anatomical location (e.g. cutaneous vs acral sites), and surrounding microenvironmental cells (e.g. keratinocytes and adipocytes). Recently, our work has expanded to the biophysical properties of melanoma cells such as mechanical pressure and thermal stress.\\
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__Awards, academic service and leadership__\\
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Alongside my research, I am deeply engaged in academic leadership, teaching and scientific communication. I am a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, Vice-President of the Society for Melanoma Research, and have served as President for the Zebrafish Disease Models Society, and a Board member of both the European and Pan-American Pigment Cell Societies. I have held Director of Graduate Studies roles at both Oxford and Sloan Kettering, I lecture across multiple University of Oxford programmes at undergraduate, MSc and graduate levels, and have been recognised by Teaching and Mentoring Awards, most recently in the 2025 Excellence in Teaching exercise. In 2025 I was awarded an Academy of Medical Sciences Professorship and in 2023 was granted an Outstanding Research award by the Society for Melanoma Research.\\ \\[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW edit rwhite}][{ALLOW upload rwhite}][{ALLOW comment All}]