ecancer Editorial Board member Mr Michael Douek was awarded a prestigious Hunterian Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, for his lecture entitled "Magnetic technique for sentinel node biopsy in cancer surgery."

Mr Douek is a Reader in Surgery (Associate Professor) at King's College London, and Consultant Surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital.

The Hunterian Society was founded in 1819 in honour of the Scottish surgeon John Hunter. The Professorship is awarded in recognition of outstanding medical lectures; historical recipients of the Professorship include such notable figures as Alexander Fleming.

While recipients of the award are entitled to the title of Hunterian Professor, Mr Douek enjoys the traditional British styling of surgeons as "Mr.", continuing to use this title even after he was awarded his research MD thesis in 2000.

Mr Douek is noted for his work in developing novel techniques for cancer surgery. A pioneer of intra-operative radiotherapy for breast cancer, he set up the first prospective trial of a biological device for breast implant reconstruction.

The Professorship has been awarded for his novel magnetic technique for sentinel node biopsy, which provides a safe and credible alternative to the use of radioisotopes for lymphatic mapping. 

Mr Douek was inspired in 2006 to begin working on the proof of principle and developmental studies that led to his development of the magnetic technique for sentinel node biopsy.

He is currently chief investigator of three international clinical trials of the pioneering magnetic technique, which have recruited over 500 patients over the last 18 months.

Mr Douek is a valued member of ecancermedicalscience's Editorial Board. Watch him discussing the magnetic technique for sentinel node biopsies with Prof Gordon McVie in an interview here.