Harvey Mudd Math Alumnus to Receive CBE from the Queen

Harvey Mudd College 2010 Outstanding Alumnus Jack Cuzick ’70, recipient of the 2015 American Cancer Society Medal of Honor and Fellow of the Royal Society will receive a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Cuzick, whose work has been featured in Harvey Mudd College Magazine, is Director of Queen Mary University of London’s Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine and Head of the Centre for Cancer Prevention. He has been a leading epidemiologist working in cancer screening and prevention for more than three decades and has played a major role in developing chemopreventive breast cancer medications that reduce risk in women with a high chance of developing the disease.

Following is the news release shared by Queen Mary University of London:

Dec. 30, 2016

Professor Jack Cuzick will receive a CBE for services to cancer prevention and screening, and Professor Kam Bhui has been recognized for services to mental health research and care and will also receive a CBE. Sarah Murray, from QMUL’s Institute of Dentistry, will be appointed as MBE for services to oral health.

Professor Jack Cuzick, Director of QMUL’s Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine and Head of the Centre for Cancer Prevention, said: “It is a great honor to be recommended for such a prestigious appointment. This is particularly important for the recognition it provides of the need to develop preventive therapies to tackle cancer before it occurs, much as now is done for heart disease.

“An enormous amount of research has been carried out which has provided clear evidence of the benefits of acting early to identify those at risk of cancer and prevent the onset of the disease with appropriate medication, rather than offering treatments when it may be too late.”

Professor Cuzick was the first to show that the drug tamoxifen was highly effective in the prevention of breast cancer, and subsequently demonstrated the superior efficacy and safety of aromatase inhibitor drugs, which can reduce breast cancer incidence by over 50 per cent. He also developed a widely used model for assessing breast cancer risk, and led work on human papilloma virus DNA testing – now the primary screening method for cervical cancer in many places.

Professor Kam Bhui from QMUL’s Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine said: “I am delighted and humbled at this honor for services to mental health research and care, and my work with charities, health services and universities nationally and globally. Innovations are driven by research and learning to improve societal success, reduce health inequalities, and enhance patient care and wellbeing. There is much more to be done.”