Humans of York: David Kent
“We have trillions of blood cells - for me, one of the most fascinating processes in disease biology is how one of those cells acquires genetic mutations and outcompetes its neighbours to drive a blood cancer that dominates the system. But it’s not enough to understand how blood cancers evolve; we have to also translate our biological insights into tools that make treatments safer, cheaper and more accessible.”
Meet Professor David Kent, recently elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences for his substantial contributions to stem cell biology.
David has spent his career decoding the mysteries of stem cells. From discovering how specific genetic mutations drive blood cancer to co-developing “barcodes” to track stem cells in the body, his work is advancing the fields of single cell biology and precision medicine.
One of the research group’s most recent endeavours has been to understand the mechanics of blood cancers and to harness those physical forces for therapeutic purposes.
This includes an exciting new bio-engineering venture co-developed with Dr Rasha Rezk, a materials engineer within the Centre for Blood Research.
Their new tool, ForCell, bridges biology and engineering, harnessing mechanical forces for therapeutic benefit.
“With ForCell we can apply mechanical forces onto cells to briefly open them while we deliver life-saving medicines,” David explains. “If we successfully scale the technology, it will be a game-changer for gene therapies, potentially moving the field away from current virus-based gene editing tools.”
This recent innovation is about creating a treatment that health services can actually afford, ensuring life-saving gene therapies aren’t just for the few: a goal particularly relevant to Kent’s research partners in Uganda and Tanzania where diseases like sickle cell disease are potentially treatable with corrective gene therapy.
David also leads the blood research group (HAEM Cluster) within the MRC National Mouse Genetics Network, uniting some of the UK's best haematology and disease modelling experts from York, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and London.
He said: “I'm particularly proud that we have managed to drive large cross-disciplinary projects that move beyond what a single lab can take on. Bringing together the UK’s best researchers allows us to tackle the big questions that ultimately benefit patients.”
Read more about his achievements and see the full list of our 2025 award-winning researchers.
Professor David Kent, Department of Biology and Centre for Blood Research, Humans of York, December 2025