I am interested in how cells identify and signal the presence of a DNA break, and how different signalling pathways influence DNA repair processes.
After completing my PhD at Massey University in New Zealand, I moved to Germany to begin a post-doc with Gyula Timinszky at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. It was here that my studies on PARPs and ADP-ribosylation began. I then moved to France to join the lab of Sébastien Huet at the University of Rennes to continue my postdoctoral studies in ADP-ribosylation in DNA repair, focusing on how it modulated chromatin architecture at the initiation of the DNA damage response using live-cell microscopy we developed. I then completed a post-doc at the University of Oxford in the lab of Ivan Ahel where my studies on ADP-ribosylation expanded both in terms of signalling pathway studied, looking into ADP-ribosylation in innate immunity, and by investigating the newly identified hybrid signal of ubiquitinated ADP-ribose.
At SVI, I will head the Cell Signalling and Cancer group where we will continue to investigate the role of ADP-ribose and ubiquitinated ADP-ribose in the DNA damage response and how these pathways can contribute to regulating the response to PARP inhibitors.
Key achievements
2026-2030 Cancer Council Victoria Mid-career fellow
2025-2028 Wolfson College Research Fellow
2019-2020 Fondation ARC post-doctoral fellow
2019 Best Young Researcher – PARP2019
2018 Prestige and Marie-Curie Fellow
Selected publications
Chatrin, C., Zhu, K., Simmons, M. D. R., Maginn, L., Schützenhofer, K., Lu, Y., Đukić, N., Wijngaarden, S., Kloet, M. S., Kliza, K. W., Heden van Noort, G. J. v. d., Filippov, D. V., Ahel, D., Smith, R.*, & Ahel, I*. (†Co-lead author, *Co-corresponding) (2026). Specificity and recognition of the ADP-ribosyl-ubiquitin modification in the DNA damage response. PLOS Biology, 24(4), e3003747. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003747
Schützenhofer, K., Laker, E., Tsang, K., Baretić, D., Suskiewicz, M. J., Zobel, F. F. H., Simmons, M. D. R., Chatrin, C., Smith, R.*, & Ahel, I*. (†Co-lead author, *Co-corresponding) (2026). PARP1-specific inhibitor displays PARP1-detrapping activity. Cell Reports, 45(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117350
Zentout, S., Imburchia, V., Chapuis, C., Duma, L., Schützenhofer, K., Prokhorova, E., Ahel, I., Smith, R.*, & Huet, S*. (*Co-corresponding) (2024). Histone ADP-ribosylation promotes resistance to PARP inhibitors by facilitating PARP1 release from DNA lesions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(25), e2322689121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322689121
Pinto Jurado, E.†, Smith, R.†*, Bigot, N., Chapuis, C., Timinszky, G.*, & Huet, S.* (†Co-lead author, *Co-corresponding) (2024). The recruitment of ACF1 and SMARCA5 to DNA lesions relies on ADP-ribosylation dependent chromatin unfolding. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 35(3), br7. https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E23-07-0281
Smith, R.†*, Zentout, S.†, Rother, M., Bigot, N., Chapuis, C., Mihuț, A., Zobel, F. F., Ahel, I., van Attikum, H., Timinszky, G., & Huet, S*. (†Co-lead author, *Co-corresponding) (2023). HPF1-dependent histone ADP-ribosylation triggers chromatin relaxation to promote the recruitment of repair factors at sites of DNA damage. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-00977-x
Juhász, S.†, Smith, R.†, Schauer, T., Spekhardt, D., Mamar, H., Zentout, S., Chapuis, C., Huet, S., & Timinszky, G. (†Co-lead author) (2020). The chromatin remodeler ALC1 underlies resistance to PARP inhibitor treatment. Science Advances, 6(51), eabb8626. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb8626
ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1658-5635
Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KE4Mc7QAAAAJ&hl=en
Cell Signalling & Cancer
We investigate how post-translational modifications regulate DNA repair and how these can be targeted for cancer therapy.
Lab head: Dr Rebecca SmithRelated news
New funding to advance DNA repair and cancer treatment research at SVI
SVI is welcoming DNA damage and repair researcher Dr Rebecca Smith, thanks to funding from the Cancer Council Victoria’s Cancer Research Fellowship Victoria Program, announced today.