Professor Jason Parsons is the Chair of Radiation Biology at the University of Birmingham, UK. He initially acquired a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham. He had postdoctoral research experience at the CRUK Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester, at the MRC Radiation and Genome Stability Unit in Harwell, and worked as a Senior Investigator Scientist at the CRUK/MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology at the University of Oxford. Professor Parsons began his own independent research group at the University of Liverpool in 2012, where he became Honorary Lead for Radiobiology Research at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, and then Chair in Radiation Biology at the University.

Professor Parsons moved to the University of Birmingham in 2023, as Chair of Radiation Biology jointly appointed through the College of Medical and Dental Sciences and the College of Physics and Astronomy. The Parsons Group has a focus on analysing the molecular and cellular impact of different sources of radiotherapy (photons, protons and particle ions) with increasing ionisation densities (LET) on tumour models, particularly those of the head and neck. Additional interests are in biological (including hypoxia) and physical (e.g. dose rate/FLASH) factors that impact on tumour radiosensitisation. The major aim is in the identification of strategies using combinatorial drugs or inhibitors leading to the optimisation of the efficacy of radiotherapy in cancer treatment. Professor Parsons’ research is currently funded by grants from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has published >70 peer-reviewed articles and reviews, serves as an editor for a number of international journals, and is currently Vice-Chair of the Association for Radiation Research (ARR).