Marais's research investigates the biology of melanoma and other cancers in order to deliver better treatment strategies for patients.[2][7][4][3] His studies on B-RAF[3] and cell signalling significantly advanced understanding of melanoma biology and aetiology.[2][9] He translated his basic research discoveries into clinical implementation, improving patient outcomes, elucidating mechanisms of drug resistance and developing new drugs against BRAF and other cancer targets.[2] His research informs innovative clinical trial designs with signal-seeking biomarkers to monitor therapy responses and optimise patient treatment.[2] His research also highlights the importance of combining sunscreen with other sun avoidance strategies to reduce population melanoma risk.[2]
Richard Marais is Professor of Molecular Oncology at Cancer Research UK and has made important contributions to the understanding of cell signalling pathways, particularly in cancer. He was amongst the first to show that mitogen activated protein kinases regulate gene expression by directly phosphorylatingtranscription factors. However his greatest impact has been with the RAF kinase family, where he discovered that individual RAF proteins are regulated differentially and shown how they respond to RAS, which is mutated in a third of all human tumours. He was a key member of the team that demonstrated that B-RAF is encoded by an oncogene, which is a culprit in most human melanomas. He went on to validate B-RAF as a therapeutic target. In collaboration with David Barford, he solved the crystal structure of B-RAF and explained how it is activated by mutations that occur in cancer. He elucidated why C-RAF is not mutated in cancer, showing that mutant forms of B-RAF can activate C-RAF through a novel mechanism, establishing a new paradigm of RAF signaling. He is now translating these studies to the clinic by leading a large effort to design and synthesize new anti-B-RAF drugs that will be used to treat melanoma.[12]
