Dawn Coverley is a cell biologist with 20 years experience in basic cancer-related research. After a first degree in Genetics (Leicester), and a PhD in biochemistry (Cancer Research UK), she moved to Cambridge University in 1992. Her research exploits experimental systems that reconstitute fundamental process associated with DNA metabolism, including DNA repair and DNA replication, and has generated original research articles published in peer review journals including Nature and Nature Cell Biology. In 2001 she was awarded a senior research fellowship by the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine and established a new research laboratory at the University of York. She founded Cizzle Biotech Limited in 2005, and raised seed corn funding in 2006. She is currently principal investigator of an academic DNA replication research laboratory at York and Chief Scientific Officer of Cizzle.