St Hugh’s Honorary Fellow Kathy Pritchard-Jones studied biochemistry and medicine at St Hugh’s College (1977-1983). After initial training in paediatrics, she devoted her career to the field of childhood cancer, where she worked as a clinician scientist. She led the UK’s participation in international clinical trials and translational research in childhood kidney cancers, especially Wilms tumour, from 2000 – 2019. From 2021 onwards, she co-leads a large epidemiology study to improve understanding of the factors underlying variation in survival between countries. This international benchmarking of childhood cancer survival by stage (BENCHISTA) project is a close collaboration between population-based cancer registries and clinicians to understand variations in childhood cancer survival between populations. Her current position is emeritus Professor of Paediatric Oncology, University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
She has also been active in advocacy and influencing global policy development for children and young people with cancer. She is a past-President of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP). During her term as President (Oct 2019-Oct 2022), she expanded the Society’s strategy to develop a new programme that is supporting expansion of clinical research capacity in low- and middle-income countries. She was the first chair of the new SIOP-WHO committee, set up to oversee SIOP’s relationship as a non-state actor in official relations with the World Health Organisation from 2022 to 2024. She has held many leadership roles in SIOP Europe and the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group.
