Mike Murphy

I studied chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin (1980-4) and obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from Peterhouse, University of Cambridge (1984-7), carrying out research in the group of Martin Brand on mechanisms of mitochondrial proton pumping. 

I then carried out postdoctoral work at Columbia University (1988), followed by working as a VSO teacher in Zimbabawe (1989) and as a Lecturer in Biochemistry at Trinity College, Dublin (1990-2). 

I then moved to the Biochemistry Department at the University of Otago, New Zealand (1992-2001), to set up my own research group, moving up to the level of Associate Professor.  During this time I spent sabbatical visits in the lab of Jeff Schatz in Basel and that of Victor Darley-Usmar in Birmingham, Alabama.  

I joined the MRC MBU to establish an independent research group to study mitochondrial dysfunction in 2001. I was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (Hon FRSNZ) in 2012 and was awarded the Keilin Memorial Lecture and Medal in 2016. 

I have been a Wellcome Trust Investigator since 2016. I was appointed Professor of Mitochondrial Redox Biology (Cambridge University) in 2018.  I was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2019.

Project/study information

Mitochondrial ROS production: Central to many pathologies and signalling processes and a key target for novel therapies.