Professor Jack Cuzick awarded the prestigious Galen Medal by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries

The Galen Medal is awarded for important services or contributions in the broad field of therapeutics. This can include treatments in clinical medicine or other clinically-related areas, therapeutic aspects of public health, and science leading to such treatments. Professor Jack Cuzick, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology in the Centre for Prevention, Detection and Diagnosis in the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, was awarded the Medal in recognition of his work transforming the identification of women at high risk of breast cancer, and pioneering modern prevention cervical screening strategies that have been adopted worldwide.

Professor Cuzick was presented the award by the Master of the Society, Air Vice Marshal Aroop Mozumder CB, at a ceremony in the Apothecaries' Hall in May. On receiving the award, Professor Cuzick said: “I am delighted to receive the Galen award for our work on cancer prevention. Prevention is the ultimate goal of disease management, and we now know enough about the causes of breast and cervix cancer to make a big push in offering this more widely. Doctors and high-risk women need to learn more about the possibilities for prevention and tailor individual actions to their personal needs.”

Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, Vice Principal for Health for Queen Mary’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, said: “It was an absolute pleasure to present Jack Cuzick FRS CBE from the Wolfson Institute for the Galen Medal of the Apothecaries Society. This award recognises his transformative impact on breast and cervical cancer which is now adopted by the NHS.”

Professor Cuzick is a world-leading researcher in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, and is the author of more than 500 peer-reviewed papers. Amongst other important breakthroughs, his research led to the use of tamoxifen as a prophylactic treatment for women at risk of breast cancer, and he led the IBIS-II trial to examine the efficacy of the aromatase inhibitor, anastrozole, in the prevention of this disease. Professor Cuzick has won numerous prizes, is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and is a Commander of the British Empire.