NOVEMBER 20, 2025, NEW YORK - Ludwig Cancer Research is delighted to announce that Richard White of the Oxford Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research has been awarded an Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) Professorship.
Part of a broader effort to attract and retain world-leading scientific talent to the U.K., this prestigious award supports outstanding biomedical and health researchers who have recently taken up a full professor position in the country. The AMS Professorship provides up to £500,000 over five years in flexible research funding and access to the Academy's extensive network of mentors and collaborators.
A professor of genetics in the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford, White relocated to Ludwig Oxford from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York in 2022. His research models cancer using zebrafish and human stem cells to explore how gene expression programs involved in embryonic development are co-opted in cancer, with a particular focus on melanoma.
Such programs induce cellular plasticity, allowing cells to take on new characteristics above and beyond those induced by their DNA alterations, influencing the likelihood of their becoming cancerous and metastasizing. Through this work, White aims to elucidate why, when and where tumors appear in the body and to generate insights that might be translated into new therapeutic opportunities for cancer treatment and the prevention of metastasis.
"Cancers are notoriously plastic," said White. "They can rapidly change their behaviors to enable metastasis and resist therapy. In my AMS Professorship, I will determine whether the biophysical aspects of melanoma-temperature, electrical coupling and mechanical force-endow these cells with such plasticity. Our goal is to define how the physical environment of tumor cells may offer new therapeutic opportunities to prevent the spread of the disease."
Richard is one of three researchers to receive this year's AMS Professorships. The awards recognize world-class researchers whose work connects across disciplines, sectors and borders to advance health and biomedical innovation.
"The AMS Professorships are an investment in people-in the kind of leaders who make science truly global," said James Naismith, vice president (non-clinical) at the Academy of Medical Sciences. "These awards recognize and invest in scientific leadership. They give talented individuals the freedom and stability to think ambitiously, collaborate widely and drive health innovation that delivers tangible global impact. Congratulations to the awardees, they represent the very best of U.K. medical science-creative, outward-looking and committed to improving lives."
We extend our warmest congratulations to Richard White on this well-deserved honor.
