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Professor Malcolm Parker FMedSci
Malcolm Parker studied Biochemistry at Manchester University and subsequently obtained his PhD at Leicester University. He undertook post-doctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston with Bert O’Malley, a pioneer in the molecular analysis of hormonal control of gene expression. He returned to the UK in 1980 to establish his own laboratory at Imperial Cancer Research Fund, the leading cancer research institute in Europe, to study endocrine related cancers. He investigated the role of the female hormone, oestradiol, in breast cancer and discovered the way in which drugs could block the function of oestrogen receptors and inhibit cancer growth. Two of these drugs, the oestrogen antagonists. tamoxifen and faslodex are still commonly used for the prevention and/or treatment of breast cancer. Following this work he was awarded the Endocrine Medal by the Society of Endocrinology and he was elected to EMBO – the European Molecular Biology Organisation in 1996. More recently his group was one of the first in the world to discover cofactors that are necessary to allow oestradiol and similar types of hormones to regulate the function of cells. In 2000, Malcolm Parker was appointed Director of the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology where he continues to study the role of these cofactors in female fertility and in metabolism. His achievements were recognised by his election to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2001 and he is regularly invited to give lectures throughout the world. As Director his goal has been to provide facilities and a scientific environment for clinicians and scientists to undertake research at the forefront of their fields and to train young scientists in exciting fields and interactive laboratories. He is married with two children. His hobbies are walking, birdwatching and most sports.