Leading breast cancer researcher elected as Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences

Image: Professor Nick Turner in the lab

Professor Nicholas Turner has been recognised with a prestigious Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences for his excellence in breast cancer research and outstanding contribution to the field. 

Professor Turner leads the Molecular Oncology Team at The Institute of Cancer Research, London. He has a laboratory in the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre – a world-leading facility comprising more than 70 cancer researchers – at the ICR.

He is also Chief Investigator of numerous clinical trials on personalised therapies for breast cancer, and a Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, where he is also Head of the Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research.

The Academy of Medical Sciences recognises a global cohort of researchers each year with Fellowships for their exceptional achievements in medical science, which have advanced scientific progress and improved care and prospects for patients.

At the ICR, Professor Turner’s research involves analysing and validating new breast cancer therapies for different molecular subtypes of the disease. He helped pioneer and develop an innovative type of personalised blood test called a liquid biopsy that can predict when a patients’ breast cancer will return and spread.

Before joining the ICR and The Royal Marsden in 2008, Professor Turner studied at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford Medical School. He completed his training as a Medical Oncologist at The Royal Free and University College Hospital in London and received his PhD from the ICR in 2006. 

Professor Turner said: “I am honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and join the Fellows already chosen from the ICR and The Royal Marsden. Thanks to new treatments developed over the last 40 years, more women than ever are surviving breast cancer, and the ICR and Breast Cancer Now Centre have been involved in delivering many advances in treatment and translational research that continue to improve patient care.

"It is critical that we detect cancer as early as possible to give us the best chance of successfully treating patients and saving their lives, and I hope our research in the future will lead to further improvements in the outcome for patients."

Professor Turner joins 49 other leading biomedical and health researchers in becoming Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences this year, and will be formally admitted to the Academy on 1 July.