Professor Paul Workman, based in London, has been awarded an OBE in the 2026 New Year Honours list for services to cancer research.
Professor Workman is the group leader in the Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery and Harrap professor of pharmacology and therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).
He said: “I feel very proud to receive this national recognition and I would like to acknowledge the fantastic contributions of a great number of people, both in my personal and collaborative scientific teams and in the ICR more generally.
“I would also like to thank my family for their unending support throughout my career.
“It takes many different people and organisations – including trainees, technical staff, colleagues, academic and commercial collaborators, funders, donors and partner institutions, as well as patients and their families – to discover and develop new cancer medicines, and I’m humbled to be honoured in this way for my contributions.”
Professor Workman has spent more than 50 years in cancer research, specialising in the discovery and early development of precision cancer therapies.
He served as chief executive and president of the ICR for seven years until 2021.
From 1997 to 2016, he was director of what is now the ICR’s Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery, transforming it into one of the world’s leading academic centres for developing targeted cancer treatments.
Since 2005, the centre has produced 21 potential cancer drugs, 13 of which have advanced to clinical trials.
Professor Workman has been directly involved in the discovery of multiple drugs, including the HSP90 inhibitor luminespib and the PI3K inhibitor pictilisib.
He was instrumental in the early therapeutic discovery programme at the ICR to target the AKT protein molecule – work that laid the foundations for AstraZeneca’s subsequent discovery of capivasertib, which was recommended on the NHS for a genetic subtype of breast cancer.
In addition to his scientific achievements, Professor Workman developed the concept of the “Pharmacological Audit Trail”, a framework that guides evidence-based decision-making in drug development.
He is also a co-founder and current director of the Chemical Probes Portal, a non-profit organisation promoting high-quality chemical tools in research.
Professor Workman is the co-director of the CRUK Children’s Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence, where he focuses on drug discovery for childhood brain cancers.
His contributions have been recognised with numerous honours, including fellowships with the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He led the ICR-Royal Marsden Team that received the 2012 AACR Team Science Award and served as chief executive when the ICR was awarded a 2017 Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Research for its discoveries in precision medicines for cancer.
Professor Kristian Helin, chief executive of the ICR, said: “It’s wonderful that Paul’s contributions to cancer research and the discovery of new drugs are being honoured with an OBE.
“We’re all very proud of his achievements and of the teamwork that demonstrates the difference that we’re making for cancer patients.”
Professor Workman has also played a key role in industry, co-founding Chroma Therapeutics and Piramed Pharma, and advising numerous biopharmaceutical companies.
During his time at Zeneca (now AstraZeneca) between 1993 and 1997, he helped discover gefitinib, one of the earliest precision cancer drugs, now used in treating EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer.
Earlier in his career, he contributed to the development of therapies targeting hypoxic cells in solid tumours, which are often resistant to treatment.
His leadership and collaboration across academia, industry, and clinical research have helped advance cancer treatment and improve outcomes for patients around the world.
