Dr. Ponder is world renowned for his pioneering contributions to the field of inherited susceptibility to cancer. He was the first chair of the International Consortium that laid the groundwork for the discovery of the BRCA genes. He established and led the Cambridge group who have been leaders for 20 years in the genetic epidemiology of breast and ovarian cancer, and who published the first successful genome wide association study for cancer, in 2007. He defined the genetic epidemiology of MEN 2 syndrome, mapping and then identifying ret as the causative gene, introducing genetic testing of families and catalyzing its introduction in several countries. He pioneered familial cancer clinics in the UK, and more recently has highlighted both the opportunities and the challenges for the clinical application of data from genome wide association studies.
Since 1996, Dr. Ponder has led the development of a major new center for cancer research and treatment in Cambridge, culminating in the opening of a new Institute, of which he was the founding director.
Career Highlights
2010 President, British Association for Cancer Research
2010 Founder Fellow, European Academy of Cancer Sciences
2008-2010 Board of Directors, American Association for Cancer Research
2008 Awarded Knighthood “for services to medicine and health care”
2008 Alfred G. Knudson Award, National Cancer Institute
2007 Bertner Award, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
2005 Founding Director, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute
2004 Hamilton Fairley Award, European Society of Medical Oncology
2001 Fellow, Royal Society of London
1998 Founding Member, UK Academy of Medical Sciences
1997 Co-founder, Strangeways Laboratories for Genetic Epidemiology
1996 Professor and Head, University Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge
1993 Professor of Cancer Genetics, University of Cambridge
1992 Public Service Award, United States National Neurofibromatosis Association
1977 PhD, University College London