The CrickConnect team are delighted to be able to invite community members to join us for the institute's regular Crick Lecture.

Crick Lectures provide a broad insight into biomedical research from leading scientists. Not to be missed, the one-hour lectures are the event of the week for the Crick community to come together. The lectures aim to be accessible to scientists across different disciplines, while also offering something for the specialist.

There is also an opportunity to catch up with colleagues and friends over refreshments after Crick Lectures from 17:00. If you are able to join us in person at the Crick please let us know at connect@crick.ac.uk so we can arrange access.

We're delighted to invite Crick Principal Group leader, Nic Tapon to give this week's Crick lecture

Nic Tapon

Nic is Principal Group Leader and runs the Apoptosis and Proliferation Control Lab at the Crick

His group is trying to solve one of the most challenging questions in biology – what controls tissue size? How do cells know they are in the right order and number to form a heart? Or a liver? Or vast stretches of gut?

To achieve consistent tissue and body size in individuals of the same species, the number of cells and how they grow must be tightly controlled throughout an organism’s entire life.Cells that are allowed to grow unchecked can form tumours. The more we learn about how cells are controlled and organised in normal health and development, the greater an insight we gain into what’s happening in disease.

The Tapon lab is most interested in a series of cell signals that form a pathway called Hippo..This signalling pathway is interrupted in many cancers so the lab is trying to understand how Hippo is linked to the way body tissues are built.