Chris Mathew is Professor of Molecular Genetics in the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics in the School of Basic and Medical Biosciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine at Kings College London. He has a joint appointment as Distinguished Professor in Human Genetics in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Witwatersrand University, based at the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience.

His main research interest is the investigation of genetic factors which contribute to the development of African cancers, and of genomic changes which are driving tumour development. He is a Principal Investigator on two major grants from the Newton Fund to investigate the genetics of common African cancers.

He has published over 260 peer-reviewed articles and has an H-index of 83, with >30,000 citations. His contribution to an increased understanding of the genetics of human disease was recognised by his election as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences UK in 2001.