Helen Matthews
banner
helenkmatthews.bsky.social
Helen Matthews
@helenkmatthews.bsky.social
Cell biologist
Group leader & Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the University of Sheffield
Cell shape, cytoskeleton and mechanics in cancer
Cancer researcher who had #breastcancer

https://www.helenmatthewslab.org/
Pinned
📢 Fully-funded 4-year MRC DiMeN PhD opportunity in our lab.

🔬 Exciting cancer cell biology collab with @maiblab.bsky.social & Liz Smythe @mcb-sheffield.bsky.social to use recombinant biosensors to image active KRAS in #pancreaticcancer

👇Apply by 4th Dec

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Understanding the membrane recruitment of oncogenic KRAS in pancreatic cancer at University of Sheffield on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Understanding the membrane recruitment of oncogenic KRAS in pancreatic cancer at University of Sheffield, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
Reposted by Helen Matthews
- A postdoc to work on cancer extravasation (4-year project).
- A postdoc help in completing Filopodia-related lab projects (2-year).
- Multiple Marie Curie postdoc positions that will open in the fall.
- We will open a 5-year position to cover my teaching (70% research and 30% teaching).
Are you looking for a postdoc?
I will be looking for 2-4 people after the summer to join the lab !!
Do not hesitate to reach out and disseminate !!
July 1, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
We are very happy to share our new PrePrint: Myosin VI orchestrates estrogen-driven gene expression in breast
cancer cells. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We characterise how Myosin VI is a key regulator of the Estrogen Receptor. Perturbation of Myosin VI impedes ER functionality.
November 14, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Are you an independently funded fellow or lecturer within three years of your appointment? Join our webinar on 8 December to find out more about the Crucible Programme which is designed to transform your approach to research and collaboration.

Book your place: whiterose.ac.uk/event/transf...
November 14, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Join us in Sheffield! We are keen to support early career researchers in applying for independent research fellowships (IRFs) to join our friendly and collaborative environment, in areas related to developmental biology, stem cells and regenerative biology, and neuroscience.
November 12, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
EXTENDED DEADLINE: the deadline for BSCB medal nominations is now 14th November.

🔬Hooke Medal
👩‍🔬Women in Cell Biology medal
🧫 Postdoctoral Researcher medal
🔬Raff PhD medal award

Details of eligibility and how to nominate are on our website.
November 3, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Looking forward to this!
Registration is OPEN for our Spring meeting: Dynamic Cell VI

🗓️ 21st-26th April 2026

📍Reading, UK

Co-organised with @biochemsoc.bsky.social @royalmicrosoc.bsky.social and the Chinese Society for Cell Biology

Register here:

www.eventsforce.net/biochemsoc/f...
October 31, 2025 at 1:51 PM
📢 Fully-funded 4-year MRC DiMeN PhD opportunity in our lab.

🔬 Exciting cancer cell biology collab with @maiblab.bsky.social & Liz Smythe @mcb-sheffield.bsky.social to use recombinant biosensors to image active KRAS in #pancreaticcancer

👇Apply by 4th Dec

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Understanding the membrane recruitment of oncogenic KRAS in pancreatic cancer at University of Sheffield on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Understanding the membrane recruitment of oncogenic KRAS in pancreatic cancer at University of Sheffield, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Great talk from Rob de Bruin @lmcb-ucl.bsky.social yesterday. Made us rethink some of our cell cycle data. Thanks to PhD student @isabelladavis00.bsky.social for inviting Rob
We are delighted to host Prof Rob deBruin from @ucl.ac.uk today

"Targeting Cell Cycle Control in Cancer"

📍 Alfred Denny Conference Room
📅 22nd October - 1pm
October 23, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Another fantastic set of talks at the 7th Sheffield Pancreatic Cancer Research Interest Network. A big thank you to Stephen Bradley and Ifeoluwa Oyelade for sharing their inspiring research.

#PancreaticCancer #CancerResearch
October 22, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
🗓️ the deadline for our medal nominations is fast approaching!

Send your nominations by 1st Nov

For full details see bscb.org
October 23, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
How do cells adapt their volumes when they proliferate and form a multicellular mass in 3D? If you have wondered about this or work with 3D in-vitro systems, then you will be happy to read our paper now on bioRxiv!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

See the thread 🧵 below for more information.
Cells dynamically adapt their nuclear volumes and proliferation rates during single to multicellular transitions
Tumour development and progression are associated with biophysical alterations that manifest across multiple spatial scales, from the subcellular to multicellular tissue scale. While cells can dynamic...
www.biorxiv.org
October 5, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Register for the Dynamic Cell VI conference, Reading, UK, April 2026! This conference focusses on all aspects of cell dynamics, co-organised by @bscb-official.bsky.social and @biochemsoc.bsky.social with @royalmicrosoc.bsky.social and the Chinese Society for Cell Biology.
bit.ly/Dynamic-Cell-VI
October 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Amazing talk by Bella, from @helenkmatthews.bsky.social lab at #NECB2025
September 18, 2025 at 1:16 PM
PhD students @isabelladavis00.bsky.social and @zhebao.bsky.social doing a great job representing @mcb-sheffield.bsky.social at the Crick Cancer Conference this week
October 9, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Very sad news that Jochen Guck has died. A true pioneer of biophysics, he was an inspiration to me and so many others.
With deep sadness, we share that Prof. Jochen Guck, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light passed away on October 3. His visionary work bridged physics and medicine. We have lost a brilliant scientist and dear friend.

mpl.mpg.de/news/article...
@fau.de

📸 Stephan Spangenberg
October 8, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Do you know an outstanding cell biologist? Nominations are open for our 2026 medals:

🔬Hooke Medal for outstanding contribution in cell biology
👩‍🔬Women in Cell Biology medal
🧫 Postdoctoral Researcher medal
🔬Raff PhD medal award

Deadline 1st November
September 22, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
@mariasecrier.bsky.social & I are looking for an enthusiastic & excellent data scientist for a 4-year postdoc to understand cell cycle dysregulation in cancer.

Deadline 15th October. Get in touch if you have any questions.

Please repost!

More details:
www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
Description
Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities ment...
www.imperial.ac.uk
September 18, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Well done Bella 👏👏👏
#NECB2025 #proudPI
September 18, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Great talks this morning from all the @mcb-sheffield.bsky.social final year students including from our very own Rachel and Meg. It's amazing to see how all the projects have developed.
More fascinating talks this morning by our final year students Megan Poxon (@jasonkinglab.bsky.social & @helenkmatthews.bsky.social), Nada Alosaimi (C. Smythe lab), Zhe Bao (@erainerolab.bsky.social), @rlawson954.bsky.social @helenkmatthews.bsky.social) and Ashleigh Whelan (Wilson lab)
September 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Less than a week to go, before the North England Cell Biology Forum in Liverpool #NECB-2025
We’re excited to be welcoming cell biologists, from across the North, to our amazing city.

The schedule is packed full of great science!

bit.ly/3Vh5dpg
September 12, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Studying cancer evolution needs multi-region or single cell seq for phylogenetics, right? Amazingly (I think!) we found single-sample bulk methylation suffices, via analysis of "fluctuating methylation". In @nature.com today led by brilliant @calumgabbutt.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Fluctuating DNA methylation tracks cancer evolution at clinical scale - Nature
Cancer evolutionary dynamics are quantitatively inferred using a method, EVOFLUx, applied to fluctuating DNA methylation.
www.nature.com
September 10, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Well done to our PhD student @rlawson954.bsky.social 👏

on giving a talk on her data on keratins and mitotic mechanics at the MBI-MPG conference at @mbisg.bsky.social in Singapore!

@mcb-sheffield.bsky.social
What happens to packed cells in a monolayer during mitosis? @rlawson954.bsky.social presented varying experiments investigating shape and force changes, cell-cell junctions, and mechanics in mitotic cells, suggesting important roles for keratin and desmosomes #MBIMPG2025 @helenkmatthews.bsky.social
September 9, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
Our new collection offers cell biologists practical, expert-driven guidance and best practices in the design, execution, and analysis of experiments, and the subsequent communication of their results to their peers. 👉 rupress.org/jcb/collecti...

#Reproducibility
September 3, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Sad to say goodbye to our brilliant mRes student Alessia Atzori. Alessia has done fantastic work on the transcription factors that control cell motility (watch this space for future publications) and is heading to Newcastle for a PhD
August 22, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Helen Matthews
We are sponsoring the North of England Cell Biology Forum in Liverpool on 18th Sept

Register and submit your abstracts here:

markmorgan60.wixsite.com/necb2025
August 22, 2025 at 12:45 PM