LOCATION

Old Road Campus Research Building (off Roosevelt Drive), Churchill Hospital, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7DQ

Biography

I joined Oxford in October 2008 as Head of the Nuffield Department of Surgery, Nuffield Professor of Surgery, Professor of Urology and Honorary Consultant Urological Surgeon at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals as well as Fellow of Balliol College. I spent the past 10 years as founding Chair of Urology and was Director of the Division of Clinical Sciences, then Head of Oncology at the University of Sheffield. I trained in Surgery and Urology at Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle.

I have authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles, and raised to date over £40m in peer-reviewed grants. 

Memberships

• British Association of Urological Surgeons
• British Medical Association
• European Association of Urology
• American Urological Association
• Association of Academic European Urologists
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Urologie (German Urological Society)

My research focuses on management of urological malignancies, in particular prostate and bladder cancer.

Each year about 10,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with bladder cancer and about 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, with prostate cancer being the the most common cancer in men.  

My laboratory interest is the mechanisms of invasion/metastasis in prostate cancer and the interaction between primary prostate cancer cells and the bone microenvironment, as well as epigenetics of bladder cancer.

My clinical research interest is to provide evidence of treatment effectiveness in prostate cancer through large randomized controlled trials. 

I am the Chief Investigator of many studies including the ProtecT (Prostate testing for cancer and Treatment) study of case-finding and randomised controlled trial of treatment effectiveness in prostate cancer - the largest of its kind worldwide. I am also establishing various multidisciplinary research platforms at Oxford and introducing, with colleagues, a new centre for evaluation of minimally invasive technology including robotic surgery.

Awards 

• 1995 - AUA/EAU Academic Exchange Fellowship
• 1996 - EAU Crystal Matula Award
• 2001 - Golden Telescope award, BAUS
• 2007 - Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
• 2012 - St Peter’s Medal, BAUS
• 2017 - NIHR Senior Investigator Emeritus
• 2015 - Elected Member, American Association of GU surgeons
• 2018 - Marberger Prize, Association of Academic European Urologists (AAEU)
• 2018 - Willy Gregoir Medal, European Association of Urology
• 2022 - Medal for Excellence Award, British Association of Surgical Oncology (BASO)
• 2022 - Laurent Boccon-Gibod Medal, Association of Academic European Urologists (AAEU)
• 2024 - CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) – for services to surgical and cancer sciences