Xin Lu’s work has been focused on the understanding of how to selectively activate the tumour suppressor p53 to kill cancer cells. She studied p53’s response to both oncogene activation and DNA damaging signals. She was also one of the first to illustrate how to selectively activate the tumour suppressor p53 to kill cancer cells through her pioneering discovery of the ASPP family of proteins. Her contribution has been ground-breaking and of enormous significance, as deregulation of this pathway is seen in developmental disorders and many cancers. The ASPP family of proteins serve as new biomarkers and excellent new targets for the development of novel cancer therapies.