Vincent J Gnanapragasam

Vincent J Gnanapragasam is the first professor of urology ever to be appointed at University of Cambridge in its 812-year history. The Malaysian, who has been lecturing at the university for the last 13 years, is also an honorary consultant urologist at the university’s hospital.

Graduating with degrees in medical sciences and surgery from Newcastle University, Gnanapragasam was one of the first surgical trainees to be funded through a Cancer Research UK PhD for clinicians. The PhD holder later also became the first surgeon to receive a CRUK Clinician Scientist fellowship.

Specialising in prostate cancer, Gnanapragasam has made novel discoveries in the field during his research work. He led the development of the Predict Prostate model to help standardise patient care, significantly reducing rates of over-treatment as well as identifying which patients need new therapies to improve cure rates in poor prognosis cases. He also invented a transformative device called CamProbe that can be used to carry out prostate biopsies more safely, with lower infection risk.

An adept researcher, Gnanapragasam has won numerous prizes for his research work including the CE Alken Prize, the Urological Research Society Medal, a Hunterian Professorship and a University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Impact (Established Researcher).