Rate My Professor Michelle West

Professor Michelle West serves as Head of the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences and Professor of Tumour Virology at Queen Mary University of London, having joined in January 2026. Prior to this, she was Head of the School of Life Sciences and Professor of Tumour Virology at the University of Sussex, where she also held positions as Deputy Head of School for Research and Enterprise and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedicine. She established her independent research group at the University of Sussex in 2001, funded by a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship. Her academic training includes a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Warwick, where she first developed interests in cancer biology and gene regulation, followed by a PhD in the Department of Cancer Studies at the University of Birmingham. There, under Martin Rowe, she studied the regulation of transcription by the nuclear antigens (EBNAs) produced by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Her postdoctoral research encompassed translational control of MYC expression with Anne Willis at the University of Leicester and the regulation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1) transcription at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge.

West's research focuses on the mechanisms of EBV-driven tumourigenesis, including the structure and function of EBV transcription factors EBNA2, 3A, 3B, and 3C, enhancer-promoter interactions, 3D chromatin reorganisation, and the impact of sequence variation on EBV proteins such as the latent replication factor EBNA1. EBV, implicated in lymphomas, carcinomas, and multiple sclerosis, is central to her studies on B cell transformation, transcriptional regulation, epigenetics, cancer development, structural biology, and structure-led drug discovery for EBNA1 inhibitors as potential anti-EBV therapeutics. She has made significant contributions to the scientific community, serving as Honorary Meetings Secretary of the Biochemical Society from January 2022 to December 2024. In this role, she chaired the Conferences Committee, advanced the Society's events strategy, and promoted diversity and inclusivity, notably increasing female speakers at meetings from 22% to 47% since 2012 through anonymised abstract reviews and inclusive committee positions for early career researchers and industry representatives. Her involvement with the Society dates back to 2012.