Rate My Professor Craig Robson

Professor Craig Robson is Professor of Molecular Urology in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University, based in the Translational and Clinical Research Institute and serving on the leadership team of the Newcastle University Centre for Cancer. He earned a BSc (Hons) from the University of Sheffield and completed his PhD at Newcastle University in 1987. After his doctoral studies, he held a Research Fellow position at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, from 1988 to 1993. He returned to Newcastle University in 1993 as Lecturer in Surgery, advancing to Senior Lecturer in Surgical Sciences (2000-2002) and Reader in Prostate Cancer at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research (2002-2005) before taking up his current professorial role.

A molecular and cell biologist by training, Professor Robson's research centers on cell signalling in cancer, focusing on the molecular mechanisms that drive progression to therapy-resistant, metastatic prostate cancer. His programme emphasizes the androgen receptor signalling cascade, identifying critical epigenetic alterations that modulate receptor function and developing relevant cell models, including those from induced pluripotent stem cells. He engages in biotech collaborations for biomarker identification and assay development to distinguish indolent from aggressive prostate cancer and has initiated and led several national and European prostate cancer research networks. Key publications include 'ST3 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase 1 (ST3Gal1) synthesis of Siglec ligands mediates anti-tumour immunity in prostate cancer' (Communications Biology, 2024), 'The catalytic subunit of DNA-PK regulates transcription and splicing of AR in advanced prostate cancer' (Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2023), 'Human prostate organoid generation and the identification of prostate development drivers using inductive rodent tissues' (Development, 2023), and 'Propagation of human prostate tissue from induced pluripotent stem cells' (Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 2020). Professor Robson chairs the Teaching and Training Committee of the Newcastle University Centre for Cancer, sits on its Executive Board and various advisory committees including the Prostate Cancer UK Grants Panel and BAUS Section of Academic Urology Executive Committee, and serves on editorial boards for Prostate Cancer, PLoS ONE, BJU International, Cancers, and The Prostate. He leads modules such as BGM3024 The Molecular Basis of Cancer and BGM3065 Biochemistry of Cancer and Chronic Diseases.