Jon obtained his PhD in 2002 working with Amanda Fisher on epigenetics in lymphocytes. Following this he switched to studying DNA replication in budding yeast with John Diffley at the Cancer Research UK Clare Hall Laboratories. This project started a longstanding interest in how DNA topology affects DNA replication and other DNA metabolic processes. After a working  with Luis Aragon at the MRC London Research Institute, examining DNA topological changes during mitosis, Jon established his laboratory in the GDSC in 2010. Combining classical plasmid replication techniques, yeast genetics and genome-wide chromosome structural assays such as Hi-C, ChIP-SEQ and Top2-CC, the Baxter lab aims to understand how DNA topological changes influence genome stability during both DNA replication and chromosome segregation.