Professor Mark Dillingham works in the field of DNA:protein interactions and his main interests lie in understanding the mechanisms responsible for the replication and repair of DNA. He obtained his D. Phil. in Oxford with Dale Wigley studying the structure and mechanism of DNA helicases.  This research was developed further in postdoctoral study at the University of California at Davis (with Steve Kowalczykowski) and at the National Institute for Medical Research (with Martin Webb) which focused on how helicase motors were integrated into larger machines, such as those responsible for the repair of double-stranded DNA breaks. His independent laboratory was established in Bristol in 2005. Recent and current work has focussed on double-stranded DNA break repair, transcription:replication conflicts and chromosome segregation. His work has been supported by major grant funding and fellowships from the BBSRC, the Royal Society, the European Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. Mark was awarded the Colworth medal of the Biochemical Society in 2010.