Professor Michael Baum

After a brief perusal of his published works, you’d be forgiven for mistaking Michael for a radical young upstart. He’s campaigned for the closure of the NHS Breast Cancer Screening Programme; has championed the ‘heretical’ belief that HRT does not, in fact, cause breast cancer; and has publicly chastised Prince Charles for his support of alternative medicine, suggesting that cancer patients need not take medical advice from someone whose authority derives from an ‘accident at birth’.

A young upstart Michael is not, however, but a veteran of world-class breast cancer research and treatment. Now the Professor Emeritus of Surgery and visiting Professor of Medical Humanities at UCL, he has devoted his working life to uncovering the secrets of an all-too-common cancer. In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious St Gallen Life Achievement Award for his significant contribution to women’s health – perhaps most notably for his role in demonstrating the effectiveness of a treatment called tamoxifen, which has since resulted in a 30 per cent reduction in breast