I am a Professor of Surgical Oncology and Consultant Surgeon based at the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust and the Christie Hospital in Manchester. I graduated from Newcastle University in 1980 and was awarded my medical degree in 1990. After completing my training in Edinburgh, Leicester, Cardiff and Birmingham I joined the University of Manchester as a Senior Lecturer in Surgical Oncology in 1991, and was appointed as Professor of Surgical Oncology in 1999.
I have research interests in preinvasive cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ), breast cancer chemoprevention, endocrine therapy and bone metastases and I have developed xenograft models of human DCIS, primary culture and stem cell cultures of human DCIS. My research in Manchester was recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons of England when I was appointed a Hunterian Professorship in 1995 for my work on parathyroid hormone related peptide and its role in bone metastases. I am a member of numerous medical societies and have been the recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the Patey Prize from the Society of Academic & Research Surgery (SARS) and the Ronald Raven Prize from the British Association of Surgical Oncology (BASO).
I have authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and my work has appeared in many journals, including the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, The Lancet,Lancet Oncology, Cancer Research and Cancer. I am also the chief investigator on several preoperative DCIS and invasive trials and an international trial (DCIS II) funded by Cancer UK.