Gareth Jenkins is a professor of molecular carcinogenesis at

Swansea University Medical School Swansea University Medical School is a medical school on Swansea University's Singleton campus. It is linked to additional teaching centres located throughout South and West Wales, including Cefn Coed Hospital, Singleton Hospital and Morriston ...

. Based in the Institute of Life Science, his interests include the study of DNA mutation induction (genetic toxicology) and the role of DNA mutations as diagnostic biomarkers for cancer. He is also director of research of the medical school and a “research leader” for Health and Care Research Wales. Jenkins' research gained much recognition during 2016 when his revolutionary cancer-detecting blood test was widely covered in the British press.

Education and career

Jenkins undertook a joint honours BSc in physics and biology (biophysics) at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

in 1987. Subsequent to this, he studied for an MSc in biotechnology (with business) at the

University of West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

in 1991. He worked at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

in the pure and applied biology department from 1992 to 1993 before moving to the genetics department at

Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

to undertake a PhD under the supervision of Professor Jim Parry. He joined the newly founded medical school in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

in 2004 as senior lecturer, appointed reader in 2007, then professor in 2010. He is currently the associate dean for research, innovation and impact in the faculty of medicine, Health and Life Science. During the 2016 British Science Festival hosted in Swansea, Jenkins made national headlines during a presentation on his cancer-detecting blood test.

Professional roles

Alongside his chair at Swansea University, Jenkins is the chair of the UK Government's Committee on Mutagenicity since 2021, having been a member from 2009-2019. He is (2020-2023) President of the UK Environmental Mutagen Society (UKEMS) and is also (2022-2026) President of the International Association of Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Societies (IAEMGS). He was a member of the South West Wales Local Regional Ethics Committee (LREC) from 2005 to 2009. He was editor of the Elsevier journal Mutation Research (Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis) from 2013 to 2015 and is currently a senior editor of the journal Mutagenesis. He was a sub panel member for the Research Excellence Framework (REF), sitting on the UoA3 sub panel in 2021/2022. He has an Honorary position at Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University (ABMU) Health Board.

Awards and honours

Young Scientist prize, United Kingdom Environmental Mutagen Society (UKEMS) 2002 and the European Environmental Mutagen Society (EEMS) 2003. Committee Member United Kingdom Environmental Mutagen Society (UKEMS) 2012-2015. Member; British Association of Cancer Research (BACR), United Kingdom Environmental Mutagen Society (UKEMS).

Other activities

Published book, ''Bile Acids: Toxicology and Bioactivity'' (2008), Royal Society of Chemistry Press. Over 120 scientific articles published (see reference 1)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Gareth British geneticists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of King's College London