Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston, (born 15 July 1940) is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and Labour Party politician.

Early life

Robert Winston was born in London to Laurence Winston and Ruth Winston-Fox, and brought up as an

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...

. His mother was Mayor of the former Borough of Southgate. Winston's father died as a result of medical negligence when Winston was nine years old. Robert has two younger siblings: a sister, the artist Willow Winston, and a brother, Anthony.Robert Winston: 'I do have a very dark side'
''The Daily Telegraph'', 15 August 2008 Winston attended firstly Salcombe Preparatory School until the age of 7, followed by Colet Court and St Paul's School, later graduating from The

London Hospital Medical College Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...

in 1964 with a degree in medicine and surgery and achieved prominence as an expert in human fertility. For a brief time he gave up clinical medicine and worked as a theatre director, winning the National Directors' Award at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

in 1969.University Chancellor Professor the Lord Winston
Sheffield Hallam University

Medical career

Winston joined

Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough ...

as a

registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the se ...

in 1970 as a Wellcome Research Fellow. He became an associate professor at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of L ...

, Belgium in 1975. He was a scientific advisor to the World Health Organisation's programme in human reproduction from 1975 to 1977. He joined the

Royal Postgraduate Medical School The Royal Postgraduate Medical School (RPMS) was an independent medical school, based primarily at Hammersmith Hospital in west London. In 1988, the school merged with the Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and in 1997 became part of Imperial ...

(based at Hammersmith Hospital) as consultant and Reader in 1977. After conducting research as Professor of Gynaecology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1980, he returned to the UK to run the IVF service set up at Hammersmith Hospital which pioneered various improvements in this technology. He became Dean of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London until its merger with Imperial College in 1997. He was Director of NHS Research and Development at the Hammersmith Hospitals Trust until 1994. As Professor of Fertility Studies at Hammersmith, Winston led the IVF team that pioneered pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to identify defects in human embryos, and published early work on gene expression in human embryos. He developed tubal microsurgery and various techniques in reproductive surgery, including sterilisation reversal. He performed the world's first Fallopian tubal transplant in 1979 but this technology was later superseded by

in vitro fertilisation In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...

. Together with Alan Handyside in 1990, his research group pioneered the techniques of pre-implantation diagnosis, enabling screening of human embryos to prevent numerous genetic diseases. He was the president of the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chi ...

from 2004 to 2005. Together with Carol Readhead of the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, Winston researched male germ cell stem cells and methods for their genetic modification at the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology,

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. He has published over 300 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. He was appointed to a new chair at Imperial College – Professor of Science and Society – and is also emeritus professor of Fertility Studies there. He was Chairman of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Trust and chairs the Women-for-Women Appeal. This charitable trust, which has raised over £80 million for research into reproductive diseases, was renamed the Genesis Research Trust in 1997. From 2001 to 2018 he was Chancellor of

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate ...

. Winston is a Fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...

(FMedSci), an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in ...

of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

(HonFREng), a Fellow of the

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is a professional association based in London, United Kingdom. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that ...

(FRCOG) and of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

of London (FRCP), and is an

of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

(FRCS Edin), Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (FRCPS Glasg), and the

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. ...

(FRSB). He holds honorary doctorates from twenty-three universities. He is a trustee of the UK Stem Cell Foundation. He is a patron of The Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Winston holds strong views about the commercialisation of

fertility treatment Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), cryopreservation of gametes o ...

. He believes that ineffective treatments result in great anguish to couples and is alarmed that so many treatments for the symptom of infertility are carried out before proper investigation and diagnosis has been made. He is also sceptical about the effectiveness of current methods for screening human embryos to assess their viability. Winston has called

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and a ...

"mutilation" and has said that "we can remove bits of our body and change our shape and so on but you can't change your sex because that is embedded in your genes in every cell of your body."

Media career

Robert Winston on After Dark on 30 May 1994

Winston was the presenter of many BBC television series, including ''

Your Life in Their Hands ''Your Life in Their Hands'' is a long-running BBC TV documentary series on the subject of surgery, examining surgical practice from the point of view of both surgeons and patients. Its first run was produced by Bill Duncalf and Mary Adams, co ...

'', ''Making Babies'', ''

Superhuman The term superhuman refers to humans or human-like beings with enhanced qualities and abilities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. Th ...

'', ''The Secret Life of Twins'', ''

Child of Our Time ''Child of Our Time'' is a documentary commissioned by the BBC, co-produced with the Open University and presented by Robert Winston. It follows the lives of 25 children, born at the beginning of the 21st century, as they grow from infancy, thr ...

'', ''Human Instinct'', ''The Human Mind'', ''Frontiers of Medicine'' and the BAFTA award-winner '' The Human Body''. As a traditional Jew with an orthodox background, he also presented '' The Story of God'', exploring the development of religious beliefs and the status of faith in a scientific age. He presented the BBC documentary ''

Walking with Cavemen ''Walking with Cavemen'' is a 2003 four-part nature documentary television miniseries produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, the Discovery Channel and ProSieben. ''Walking with Cavemen'' explores human evolution, showcasing various extinct hom ...

'', a major BBC series that presented some controversial views about early man but was endorsed by leading anthropologists and scientists. One theory was that ''

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture ...

'' have a uniquely developed imagination that helped them to survive. Winston's documentary ''Threads of Life'' won the international science film prize in Paris in 2005. His BBC series '' Child Against All Odds'' explored ethical questions raised by IVF treatment. In 2008, he presented ''Super Doctors'', about decisions made every day in frontier medicine. Robert Winston 2011c

In 2007, Winston appeared in the TV series ''

Play It Again ''Play It Again'' is a documentary television series on BBC One, featuring celebrities trying to learn to play musical instruments. The series is produced by Diverse Production and started on 25 March 2007 and is narrated by Tamsin Greig. Ep ...

'', in which he attempted to learn to play the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, despite not having played a musical instrument since the age of 11, when he learned the recorder. Among many

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

programmes, he has appeared on ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural set ...

'' radio soap as a fertility consultant. He has regularly appeared on ''The Wright Stuff'' as a panellist as well as numerous chat show programmes such as '' Have I Got News For You'', ''This Morning'', ''The One Show'' and various political programmes such as ''Question Time'' and ''Any Questions''. Winston is featured in the ''

Symphony of Science The Symphony of Science is a music project created by Washington-based electronic musician John D. Boswell. The project seeks to "spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes." Boswell uses pitch-corrected audio and video ...

'' episode ''Ode to the Brain''. He also took part in the 2011 TV series ''

Jamie's Dream School Jamie's Dream School is a seven-part British television documentary series made by Fresh One Productions, first aired on Channel 4. In it, Jamie Oliver enrols a group of teenagers with fewer than five GCSEs into his "Dream School" – a school ...

''. In recent years, Winston has been featured on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28a ...

'' in the United States, presenting various entertaining scientific experiments.

Political career

Winston was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

on 18 December 1995 as ''Baron Winston, of

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham''. He sits on the Labour Party benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

and takes the Labour

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

. He speaks frequently in the House of Lords on education, science, medicine and the arts. He was Chairman of the House of Lords

Select Committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...

on Science and Technology and is a board member and vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, which provides advice to both Houses of Parliament. He is a member of Labour Friends of Israel. Winston has made a number of claims regarding the impact of segregated cycle lanes on air quality and emissions in Central London. He is a member of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, an advisory board created in 2019 and sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which works on ethical and innovative deployment of data-enabled technologies including

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...

Personal life

In 1973, Winston married Lira Helen Feigenbaum. They had three children, Joel, Tanya and

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( h ...

who is a film and TV producer and director. Lady Winston died on 16 December 2021. Winston is a fan of Arsenal Football Club. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, a former vice-president of the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...

and a member of the Garrick Club, the MCC, and the Athenaeum Club in London. He owns a classic 1930s Bentley. Winston was a council member of the

Imperial Cancer Research Fund Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

and Cancer Research UK, and until 2013 was a member of the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council where he chaired the Societal Issues Panel. He gives many public lectures a year on scientific subjects and has helped to promote science literacy and education by founding the Reach Out Laboratory in

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, which brings schoolchildren of all ages into the university on a daily basis to do practical science and to debate the issues which science and technology raise. Extending this school outreach activity, he acts as ambassador for Outreach for the President of Imperial College, visiting schools across England to discuss scientific issues and career aspiration with students.

Current posts

*Professor of Science and Society,

*Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies, Imperial College London *Chairman of the Genesis Research Trust *Founding member and co-chair with Professor Ruth Armon of the UK-Israel Science Council (since 2017)

Selected former posts

*Chairman of the Council,

2007–2017 *Council Member,

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

until 2018

Honours and awards

*Cedric Carter Medal, Clinical Genetics Society, 1993 *Victor Bonney Medal for contributions to surgery,

, 1993 *Gold Medallist, Royal Society of Health, 1998 *Fellow of the

(FMedSci), 1998 *

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headqua ...

Gold Award for Medicine in the Media, 1999 * Michael Faraday Prize,

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, 1999 *Edwin Stevens Medal (the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...

) 2003 *Aventis Prize, Royal Society 2004 *Al-Hammadi Medal,

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...

2005 *Twenty-three honorary doctorates *The VLV Award for the most outstanding personal contribution to British television in 2004 *Honoured by the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

at a Marylebone tree planting ceremony in July 2011 *

of the

in 2008.

Honorary degrees

Winston has received at least 23

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

s, These include

Television documentaries

* ''

'', BBC 1979–1987 * '' Making Babies'', BBC 1995 * '' The Human Body'', BBC, which went by the name ''Intimate Universe: The Human Body'' in the United States, BBC 1998. The series won three

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

. * '' The Secret Life of Twins'', BBC 1999 * ''

'', following the lives of a group of children, all born in 2000, as they grow to the age of 20; BBC 2000–present * ''

'', BBC 2001, won the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

Award for Medicine and Biology * ''

'', BBC 2003 * '' Human Instinct'', BBC 2002 Emmy nomination * '' The Human Mind'', BBC 2003 * '' Threads of Life'', about DNA, BBC 2003, won the international Science Prize in Paris * ''How to Sleep Better'', BBC 2005 * '' The Story of God'', BBC 2005 * ''

How to Improve Your Memory How may refer to: * How (greeting), a word used in some misrepresentations of Native American/First Nations speech * How, an interrogative word in English grammar Art and entertainment Literature * ''How'' (book), a 2007 book by Dov Seidm ...

'', BBC 2006 * '' A Child Against All Odds'', BBC 2006 * '' Super Doctors'', BBC 2008 * ''

How Science Changed Our World ''How Science Changed Our World'' is a 2010 BBC television documentary presented by Robert Winston (first broadcast on 23 December 2010 on BBC One). It focuses on ten scientific advances, which according to the producers, had the biggest impact ...

'', BBC 2010 * '' Inside Britain's Fertility Business'', BBC 2016

Selected published work

*"Reversibility of Female Sterilization" (1978) *Co-author "Tubal Infertility" (1981) *"Infertility – a sympathetic approach" (1985) *"Getting Pregnant" (1989) *"Making Babies" (1996) *"The IVF Revolution" (1999) *"Superhuman" (2000) *"Human Instinct" (2003) *"The Human Mind" (2004), shortlisted for Royal Society Aventis Prize *"What Makes Me Me" (2005), winner, Royal Society young people's book prize *"Human" (2005), BMA Award for best popular medicine book *" The Story of God" (2005) *"Body" (2005) *"A Child Against All Odds" (2006) *"

" (2007) *"It's Elementary" (2007) *"Evolution Revolution" (2009) *"What Goes On Inside My head" (2010) *"Science Year By Year" (2011) *"That's Life" (2012) *"Bad Ideas?" An Arresting History of Our Inventions: How Our Finest Inventions Nearly Finished Us Off (2010) *"Utterly Amazing Science" (2014), winner, Royal Society young people's book prize *"Utterly Amazing Body" (2015) *"The Essential Fertility Guide" (2015)
''When science meets God''
Robert Winston, BBC News, Friday, 2 December 2005.

Robert Winston,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

, Thursday, 13 October 2005

References

External links

* *
President of the BA, Biography at the British Association
* ttp://www.age-of-the-sage.org/scientist/robert_winston_human_instinct.html Age of the Sage: Robert Winston {{DEFAULTSORT:Winston, Robert Winston, Baron 1940 births Living people Academics of Imperial College London Alumni of the London Hospital Medical College Université catholique de Louvain faculty English television presenters English scientists Jewish scientists English Orthodox Jews English Jews Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Friends of Israel People educated at St Paul's School, London Chancellors of Sheffield Hallam University Presidents of the British Science Association People associated with the University of Surrey Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Physicians of Hammersmith Hospital 20th-century British Jews 21st-century British Jews