Joseph Newman
Group leader – Structural biology of DNA repair
I studied my undergraduate degree in biochemistry in the University of Edinburgh UK from 1998-2002. I did a PhD in structural biology in the lab of Prof David Rice at the University of Sheffield UK from 2003-2007. From 2007-2013 I joined the lab of Prof Rick Lewis at Newcastle University UK where I studied the structure and biophysics of protein complexes involved in central carbon metabolism and biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis. From 2013 I have been a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, initially in the Structural Genomics Consortium and now the Centre for Medicines discovery.
My current research interests are the structure and function of DNA repair enzymes including helicases and nucleases. I use structural biology to identify and develop novel starting points for small molecule inhibitors with utility in human health as either cancer therapeutics or antiviral agents.
Recent publications
Gluebodies Offer a Route To Improve Crystal Reliability and Diversity through Transferable Nanobody Mutations That Introduce Constitutive Close Contacts.
Journal article
Ye M. et al, (2025), ACS Cent Sci, 11, 2385 - 2399
CACHE Challenge #2: Targeting the RNA Site of the SARS-CoV-2 Helicase Nsp13.
Journal article
Herasymenko O. et al, (2025), J Chem Inf Model, 65, 6884 - 6898
The dual ubiquitin binding mode of SPRTN secures rapid spatiotemporal proteolysis of DNA-protein crosslinks.
Journal article
Song W. et al, (2025), Nucleic Acids Res, 53
Structural insights into human brachyury DNA recognition and discovery of progressible binders for cancer therapy.
Journal article
Newman JA. et al, (2025), Nat Commun, 16
The dual ubiquitin binding mode of SPRTN secures rapid spatiotemporal proteolysis of DNA-protein crosslinks.
Preprint
Song W. et al, (2024)