Cancer crusader Tom makes global influencer list
A Barts Health doctor whose research has helped to double the life expectancy of people with severe bladder cancer has been included in a list of the most influential scientists.
Tom Powles, director of the Barts Cancer Centre and a Professor of Genitourinary Oncology at Queen Mary University of London, features in Nature’s 10, the science journal’s annual run-down of the people who have most shaped scientific understanding.
He is named alongside individuals such as Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist who helped to create ChatGPT, and Kalpana Kalahasti, leading engineer from India’s successful moon landing.
Powles was praised for his efforts to tackle metastatic bladder cancer.
A study earlier this year found that a new combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs can transform outcomes for people with the disease by extending the survival time from around 16 months to two and a half years.
It is the biggest breakthrough in bladder cancer treatment in 40 years and could herald the next wave of powerful immunotherapy drugs.
Powles said: "It’s very humbling to appear on this list.
"Our work to tackle bladder cancer has been a huge effort from a large number of scientists, doctors and patients from across the globe, over many years.
"Representing this group is a real honour."
In May 2024, Powles was named among the most influential 100 people in health by Time magazine.
About his discovery, it said: "In true Cinderella form, the combination has now transformed the once dismal and ignored disease of bladder cancer into one that’s finally drawing attention and hope."