Professor Michael J. Reed (30 May 1944 – 6 April 2009) was a British chemist who held the position of professor of steroid biochemistry at Imperial College, London.

Scientific career

Reed obtained a BSc in zoology from the University of London in 1967 and an MSc in biochemistry from Imperial College in 1969. He then commenced research into the actions and metabolism of

ethinyloestradiol Ethinylestradiol (EE) is an estrogen medication which is used widely in birth control pills in combination with progestins. In the past, EE was widely used for various indications such as the treatment of menopausal symptoms, gynecological dis ...

with Ken Fotherby at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, culminating in a PhD in 1973. He continued to work on the regulation of oestrogen synthesis in

endometrial cancer Endometrial cancer is a cancer that arises from the endometrium (the lining of the uterus or womb). It is the result of the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. The first sign is most o ...

before moving to

St Mary's Hospital Medical School St Mary's is the youngest of the constituent schools of Imperial College London, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most popular medical school in the country, wit ...

in 1976, to join Vivian James in the Department of Chemical Pathology. He then focused his attention to the regulation of aromatase in breast cancer. Reed was appointed lecturer at St. Mary's in 1978, senior lecturer in 1983 and reader in 1992. His principal work was on ''in vivo'' methods, using radioactive substrate infusions to calculate the extent of aromatisation in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. In 1995 he was appointed professor of steroid biochemistry in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Medicine. After the creation of the Imperial College School of Medicine, Reed's research became more directed towards developing therapies. Together with A. Purohit, he developed a research programme in steroid sulphatase inhibitors for the control of steroid-responsive cancers. These studies attracted commercial funding and the creation of an Imperial Start-up – Sterix Ltd, formed in 1998 as a spin-off from Imperial College, London and the University of Bath, based on the work of Reed and

Barry V L Potter Barry Victor Lloyd Potter (born 1953) MAE FMedSci is Professor of Medicinal & Biological Chemistry at the University of Oxford, Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator and a Fellow of University College, Oxford. Early life and education Pott ...

(professor of medicinal chemistry, University of Bath) in the field of steroid hormones. It resulted the development of inhibitors for several steroidogenic enzyme targets. One of these completed a Phase 1 trial in women with advanced breast cancer, in collaboration with Charles Coombes and CRUK. Sterix was acquired by Ipsen in 2004.

Awards and honours

Reed won the 2009 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) International Achievement Award, jointly with Barry Potter. He also won The Royal Society of Chemistry BMCS Malcolm Campbell Memorial Award 2009, jointly with L.W.L. Woo and B.V.L. Potter fro
The University of Bath
and A. Purohit fro
Imperial College
A commemorative symposium was held on 6 April 2010 in Edinburgh to celebrate his scientific achievements. The symposium focused on the main area of Reed's research – the production and role of female sex hormones in women with hormone-dependent cancers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Michael J. British biochemists 1944 births 2009 deaths Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of the University of London Academics of Imperial College London Fellows of the Royal College of Pathologists