Professor Frances Balkwill OBE FMedSci FRS is a distinguished cancer biologist and global authority in tumor microenvironment research at Queen Mary University of London. She currently serves as Professor of Cancer Biology and Deputy Director of the Centre for Tumour Microenvironment at Barts Cancer Institute, where she leads groundbreaking research that bridges fundamental science and clinical translation. Born in 1952 in Kingston-upon-Thames, she was the first in her family to attend university and graduated with a Cellular Pathology degree from the University of Bristol in 1973 before earning her PhD in leukaemia cell biology at St Bartholomew's Hospital London. Her distinguished career began with postdoctoral work studying interferon at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in Lincoln's Inn Fields, followed by her move to Queen Mary University of London in 2000 where she established herself as a leader in cancer biology.
Professor Balkwill has made paradigm-shifting discoveries regarding the role of cytokines in cancer promotion, particularly in ovarian cancer, which directly led to clinical trials and transformed understanding of tumor microenvironment dynamics. Her laboratory pioneered complex multi-cellular models of the tumor microenvironment, including innovative 'cancer-on-a-chip' mini-human tumor systems that have revolutionized pre-clinical cancer research. Her seminal 2012 publication on the inflammatory cytokine network in human ovarian cancer microenvironment established critical frameworks for understanding cell-cell communication in cancer progression. These contributions have not only advanced fundamental knowledge but have also catalyzed new approaches to cancer immunotherapy and therapeutic targeting of the tumor microenvironment.
Beyond her transformative research, Professor Balkwill has profoundly impacted science education and public engagement through multiple pioneering initiatives. She founded and directs Centre of the Cell, Queen Mary's innovative science education center housed within biomedical research laboratories, which has engaged over 245,000 participants to date. Additionally, she has authored twelve children's science books and edited six more, with approximately 500,000 copies printed across ten foreign editions, making complex scientific concepts accessible to young audiences worldwide. Recognized with prestigious honors including the OBE, Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and Fellowship of the Royal Society, she continues to shape the future of cancer research while inspiring the next generation of scientists through her exceptional contributions to both discovery and dissemination of scientific knowledge.
