Michael Stratton

Education

Stratton was educated at the independent Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School and obtained a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Oxford where he was a student of Brasenose College, Oxford. He completed his clinical training at Guy's Hospital before training as a histopathologist at the Hammersmith and Maudsley Hospitals in London. He obtained a PhD while working on Medulloblastomas in the molecular biology of cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research, awarded by the University of London in 1990.

Career and research

Stratton has held clinical posts at Guy's Hospital, Westminster Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital and the Royal Marsden Hospital. He took up a Faculty appointment and now holds a Professorship at the Institute of Cancer Research. He joined the Sanger Institute in 2000 and was promoted to deputy director in 2007. In May 2010, he was appointed director, succeeding Allan Bradley.

Stratton's research interests are in the area of genetics of cancer. In 1994, he assembled a research group that localised BRCA2,{{Cite journal |author-link8= Nazneen Rahman |author-link14= Alan Ashworth |author-link15= Michael Stratton |author-link4= Michael Stratton |author-link9= Alan Ashworth | doi-access = free | doi-access = free |author-link27= Richard Houlston | display-authors = 29 | doi-access = free |author-link1= Nazneen Rahman |author-link18=Michael Stratton

At the announcement of the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2000, Stratton discussed using genome sequences to revolutionise cancer treatment. He and Andy Futreal had already initiated the Cancer Genome Project at the Sanger Centre, as it was then known, to use genome-wide analysis to find somatic mutations in human cancers.{{Cite journal | display-authors = 29

In 2009, Stratton and colleagues reported the first complete cancer genomes, from a lung tumour and a melanoma. Stratton's team maintain the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database, a set of online resources available to the scientific community. He is also one of the lead researchers in the International Cancer Genome Project, a £600 million, multi-national project to sequence 25 000 cancer genomes, from 50 different types of cancer.

Controversy

In August 2018 it was reported that an investigation was under way into allegations of bullying of staff and gender discrimination made against senior management of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, including Stratton. The independent investigation, carried out by the barrister Thomas Kibling from Matrix Chambers, concluded in October 2018 and cleared Stratton of any wrongdoing. The public report stated that the allegation of bullying was "misplaced, unwarranted and misconceived", while also listing areas for improvement in the workings of the Sanger Institute. Some of the claimants disputed these findings.

Awards and honours

Stratton was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 1999, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2008, elected to EMBO Membership in 2009 His nomination for the Royal Society reads: In May 2022, Stratton was awarded the inaugural 'In Search of Wonder Lifetime Achievement Award' at the Cambridge Independent's Science and Technology Awards, sponsored by Waterbeach creative design agency JDJ Creative. He received the award at a ceremony held at the Wellcome Genome Campus, just three months after announcing his decision to step down as director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and CEO of the Wellcome Genome Campus after 12 years in the post. In 2024 he received the Royal Medal of the Royal Society.

References

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References

1. Anon. (2015). "Stratton, Prof. Michael Rudolf".
2. Rahman, Nazneen. (1999). "Localisation and characterisation of the familial tumour gene, FWT1". University of London.
3. "Royal Marsden: Professor Nazneen Rahman".
4. Alexandrov, Ludmil. (2014). "Signatures of mutational processes in human cancer". University of Cambridge.
5. "EMBO welcomes 66 leading life scientists as members". biochemist.org.
6. [https://www.jeantet.ch/en/prix-louis-jeantet/laureats/2018-en/professeur-michael-stratton/ Louis-Jeantet Prize]
7. {{Scopus
8. [https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=michael+stratton Michael Stratton's publications in Google Scholar]
9. ''[http://royalsociety.tv/dpx_royalsociety/dpx.php?cmd=autoplay&type=autofocus&pres=298&media=wm&dpxuser=dpx_v12 Patterns of mutation in human cancer genomes]'' – video of a seminar given by Stratton at the [[Royal Society]].
10. ''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8694000/8694329.stm Every human 'could get their own genome sequence']'' – Interview with Stratton on BBC's the [[Today Programme]]
11. (2011). "Feature: Professor Mike Stratton – how I got into cancer genetics 'Wellcome News' issue 66".
12. Stratton, Michael Rudolf. (1990). "Role of genetic alterations in the genesis of human soft tissue tumours and medulloblastoma". University of London.
13. "Professor Mike Stratton appointed new Director". Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
14. {{AcademicSearch. 2796283
15. (2001). "Richard Wooster on cancer and the Human Genome Project". The Lancet Oncology.
16. (1994). "Localization of a breast cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA2, to chromosome 13q12-13". Science.
17. (1995). "Identification of the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2". Nature.
18. Chrissie Giles. (24 June 2010). "Great expectations: human genome research". Wellcome Trust.
19. (August 2006). "ATM mutations that cause ataxia-telangiectasia are breast cancer susceptibility alleles". Nat. Genet..
20. Karen Hopkin. (1 June 2009). "On the MAP". The Scientist.
21. (2004). "Intragenic ERBB2 kinase mutations in tumours". Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
22. "Mike Stratton". Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
23. Mark Henderson. (24 December 2009). "Breast cancer is not a single disease, scientists discover". The Times.
24. (December 2009). "Complex landscapes of somatic rearrangement in human breast cancer genomes". Nature.
25. (January 2010). "COSMIC (the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer): a resource to investigate acquired mutations in human cancer". Nucleic Acids Res..
26. "UK Government research grants awarded to Michael Stratton". [[Research Councils UK]].
27. (2018-08-29). "Bosses at leading UK science institute accused of bullying staff".
28. . (2018-10-31). ["Result of independent investigation into whistleblowing allegations released"](https://www.sanger.ac.uk/news/view/result-independent-investigation-whistleblowing-allegations-released).
29. Thomas Kibling. (2018-10-31). "Thomas Kibling's Investigatory Report".
30. (2018). "Sanger whistle-blowers dispute findings that cleared management of bullying". Nature.
31. and was awarded the Lila Gruber Cancer Research Award in 2010. He was [[Knight Bachelor. (15 June 2013)
32. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22905680 Michael Stratton, cancer gene scientist, knighted], BBC News, 14 June, 3013
33. "EC/2008/40: Stratton, Michael Rudolf". The Royal Society.
34. (2022-05-11). "Winners of the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards 2022 revealed".
35. (2022-02-04). "Cancer genetics pioneer Professor Sir Mike Stratton to step down as Wellcome Sanger Institute director".
36. [https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/royal-medals/ Royal Medal 2024]