John Masters
Professor John R Masters is a Professor of Experimental Pathology, Director of the Prostate Cancer Research Centre (PCRC) and Head of the Research Department of Urology at UCL. He trained in cancer research under the prostate pathologist Dr Sammy Franks at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) in Lincolns Inn Fields, did a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Clinical Surgery in Edinburgh and then joined the Institute of Urology and remained with Urology/Surgery since the move to UCL.
The Prostate Cancer Research Centre was one of three research groups awarded funding from the National Cancer Research Institute for prostate cancer research centres of excellence. Grants have been obtained from all the major funders of biomedical research, including the MRC, Wellcome Trust, European Union, Cancer Research UK, The National Lottery, Association for International Cancer Research and the US National Institutes of Health (two consecutive RO1 awards) and other organisations. The Centre is supported by the charity also known as The Prostate Cancer Research Centre.
| Specialty : | Cell and molecular pathology of prostate cancer, aiming to translate laboratory-based advances to the clinic. |
| Research : | The last major improvement in the treatment of men with metastatic prostate cancer was the introduction of androgen ablation in the 1940s. The PCRC has two programmes of research aiming to develop new therapy for men with castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. One research group has studied the genetic changes that allow prostate cancer cells to metastasise, and has discovered that mutations are frequent in a gene called Plexin B1 that controls cell migration. The second research group aims to identify prostate cancer stem cells, the small fraction of cells that accummulate the mutations and give rise to the cancer. |
| Qualifications : | PhD, FRCPath |
| University : | University College London |
| Tel (nhs) : | 020 7679 9543 |
| Website : | www.prostate-cancer-research.org.uk |
