Congratulations to Professor Louise Jones, who has been awarded the Pathological Society’s prestigious Goudie Medal for her seminal contributions to pathological science and understanding of disease. Professor Jones received her award last night (21st January 2025) at the Royal Society of Medicine in London where she also presented the Goudie Lecture, exploring her research efforts to improve and personalise breast cancer treatment.
The Goudie lectureship and medal was established in 2004 in honour of the late Professor Robert Barclay Goudie, a distinguished pathologist, medical researcher and former General Secretary of the Pathological Society.
Professor Sarah Coupland, President of the Pathological Society, says: “Professor Louise Jones will be the 19th Goudie Lecturer, and was voted to receive this distinguished award by Pathological Society’s Committee members following nomination. Professor Jones thoroughly deserves this award because of her commitment to research in the field of breast cancer as well as her huge efforts in diagnostic pathology, genomics, digital pathology, biobanking and teaching.”
Louise Jones is Professor of Breast Pathology at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London and a consultant in histopathology at Barts NHS Trust. Her research focuses on a condition called Ductal Carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) of the breast: a non-invasive, early-stage breast cancer that affects the milk ducts.
Only around 20% of DCIS will develop into life-threatening disease. The key challenge is identifying which women urgently need treatment – such as surgery to remove all or part of the breast – and who can safely be spared unnecessary treatment. Currently, thousands of women are over-treated for a disease they may never get. Professor Jones’ research focuses on finding markers that help us to identify the right treatment for the right patients at the right time.
Alongside her research, Professor Jones co-leads the Breast Cancer Now Biobank, the UK’s largest unique collection of high-quality breast tissue, breast cells and blood samples from breast cancer patients, which she helped to establish in 2010. She was also the clinical lead for molecular pathology for the 100,000 Genomes Project, work that helped to raise the profile of pathology nationally and ensured that pathologists will play a leading role in the era of personalised medicine.
The BCI has seen several previous winners of the Goudie Medal, including Emeritus Professor Ian Hart (who led our Centre for Tumour Biology) in 2006, and Professor Nick Lemoine (who directed the BCI until 2024 and now leads our Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics) in 2009.
Professor Lemoine says: “The importance of pathology is currently experiencing a resurgence of interest with the advent of molecular and genomic technologies that allow huge amounts of information to be gleaned from even the smallest biopsy.
“Louise’s research into the characteristics of breast cancer is leading the way in stratified approaches to the management of this disease and will undoubtedly change clinical practice for the better, benefiting patients now and in the future. Award of this year’s Goudie Medal is a worthy recognition of the impact of her work over many years.”
Category: General News, Grants & Awards
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