Dr Janet Cronshaw

My early research career focused on how molecules get into and out of the nucleus in eukaryotic cells, a process called nucleocytoplasmic transport. I completed my PhD at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester (now the Manchester Cancer Research Centre) where I studied a subset of proteins that make up the Nuclear Pore Complex (NPC) - the structure that mediates nucleocytoplasmic transport. Following on from my PhD, I carried out my first post-doctoral research project at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. In collaboration with researchers at The Rockefeller University (New York, USA) I used mass spectrometry to characterise the protein composition of the NPC, identifying several novel proteins as a result.

I moved back to the UK in 2004 and spent several years working at the CRUK London Research Institute (now part of the Crick Institute) on two different projects: (1) The RNA-binding properties of proteins involved in the epigenetic control of gene expression; (2) The regulation of DNA damage signalling. Following a career break, in 2014 I secured a Daphne Jackson Career Re-entry Fellowship in the School of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield. I returned to my early interest in nucleocytoplasmic transport and spent two years investigating a novel pathway of mRNA export that bypasses the NPC.

Since 2016, I have been teaching in the School of Biosciences in a variety of roles, currently as a University Teaching Associate. My teaching mainly centres on practical classes and I am particularly enthusiastic about teaching practical skills to undergraduates. I am currently the Level 1 Practical Lead for Molecular Biosciences, which involves coordinating and delivering practical classes and their associated assessments. I also lecture on the Level 1 Molecular and Cell Biology module, as well as leading practical classes in various Level 1 and Level 2 modules.