Simon Baker

Simon is interested in the adaptive responses of the bladder epithelium (“urothelium”) to urinary toxins. Human urothelium forms a barrier to prevent exposure of the cells to urine. Sometimes (such as in disease) the barrier can fail or be damaged and Simon is working on evidence that the cells can metabolise/break-down some urinary toxins allowing them to survive exposure and the tissue to repair. Sometimes the process of detoxification can become unbalanced leading to DNA damage that might ultimately cause cancer.