Rate My Professor Francis Barr

Professor Francis Barr serves as the EP Abraham Professor of Mechanistic Cell Biology and Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, roles he assumed in 2011 and 2019, respectively. He is also a Professorial Fellow in Biochemistry at Trinity College, Oxford. Before joining Oxford, Barr was a Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich and the North West Cancer Research Professor at the University of Liverpool. His research in the Department of Biochemistry, part of the Medical Sciences Division, centers on the molecular mechanisms of cell division, encompassing mitosis, cytokinesis, and spatial-temporal control, as well as membrane trafficking regulated by Rab GTPases. The Barr lab integrates cell biology, structural biology, and computational modeling to dissect how cells accurately segregate chromosomes, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi apparatus during division. Dysregulation of these pathways, particularly involving interlinked networks of Aurora protein kinases and PPP family phosphatases such as PP1, PP2A, and PP6, is linked to human cancers and other diseases, informing potential therapeutic targets like amplified Aurora A kinase in melanoma tumors.

Barr's contributions have profoundly influenced cell biology. Key studies include the regulation of PP6 on Aurora A kinase activity, driving genome instability via NDC80 complex alterations, and PP2A-B55 phosphatase roles in metaphase-anaphase transition timing through substrate modeling. His highly cited publications demonstrate this impact: 'Polo-like kinases and the orchestration of cell division' (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2004; 1399 citations), 'Regulation of exosome secretion by Rab35 and its GTPase-activating proteins TBC1D10A–C' (Journal of Cell Biology, 2010; 1048 citations), 'Cytokinesis: placing and making the final cut' (Cell, 2007; 626 citations), 'Rab GEFs and GAPs' (Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 2010; 577 citations), and 'GRASP65, a protein involved in the stacking of Golgi cisternae' (Cell, 1997; 516 citations), contributing to over 19,700 total citations and an h-index of 73. As Head of Department, he leads multidisciplinary research in molecular and cellular biochemistry, lectures to undergraduates on cell biological mechanisms, supervises doctoral students, and delivers public lectures. Barr is an EMBO member since 2009.