Alan Ashworth

Alan Ashworth co-discovered the principle of PARP inhibitor synthetic lethality with BRCA mutations, a discovery that revolutionized ovarian and breast cancer treatment. His 2005 paper in Nature co-authored with Steve Jackson defined how BRCA-deficient cells are exquisitely sensitive to PARP inhibition, establishing the first synthetic lethality-based cancer treatment strategy. He has continued to pioneer the broader application of synthetic lethality across diverse cancer mutations and DNA repair pathway defects. He leads UCSF's comprehensive cancer center and continues to advance synthetic lethality as a therapeutic framework.