Prof Daniel Hochhauser qualified in medicine at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School in 1983 following studies at Cambridge and Harvard universities. After junior hospital appointments in London and Oxford, he completed a D.Phil thesis at Oxford University in cancer biology. Subsequently, he trained as a clinical fellow in medical oncology and continued research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York before appointment as senior lecturer and consultant in medical oncology at the Royal Free Hospital in 1996. After joining UCLH in 2002 as Reader and consultant in medical oncology, Daniel was appointed to the Kathleen Ferrier Chair in Medical Oncology in 2007. He has an active clinical practice in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer including clinical trials. Research is focused on development of novel targeted therapies within a laboratory programme in UCL Cancer Institute and on early-phase clinical studies. Daniel co-directs the UCL CRUK Centre, is a member of NICE Technology Committee and is active within the new UCLH Clinical Research Facility.
Prof Hochauser’s Presidential Address was entitled “Jews and Cancer”. He provided an erudite and accessible exposition of how cancer research has advanced towards the development of drugs that target key molecules implicated in tumour growth. At the same time he reflected on the important contribution that Jews had made to these developments, and on the significance of the genetic inheritance of Jews, with implications not only for cancer incidence but also for therapy.