Professor Ray Powles CBE

At the Royal Marsden Hospital, Professor Ray Powles established and oversaw one of the largest and most cutting-edge blood cancer programs in the world until 2003. It was under his direction that the 1973 procedure that resulted in the first successful bone marrow transplant in Europe was carried out. He reported the first autologous stem cell transplant for myeloma and was the first to use cyclosporine and acyclovir. In 2003, the Queen gave him the title of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of these and other achievements. At the Cancer Centre London, where he is the head clinician for the bone marrow transplant and haemato-oncology departments, he now oversees a comparable department in the private sector. He presided over the Scientific Committee on Plasma Cell Biology of the American Society of Haematology until December 2010. For his contributions in educating and facilitating cancer care across the continent, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Cancer Patients Aid Association in 1999. Professor Powles has consistently been involved in the development of pharmaceuticals, particularly with the advisory board for the pharmaceutical sector. Up until 2008, he served as a director of the Swiss biopharmaceutical business BioPartners.

Qualification

• MD BSc FRCP FRCPath CBE