Rate My Professor Patrick Maxwell

Professor Patrick Maxwell is the Regius Professor of Physic and Head of the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge, a position he assumed in 2012. He graduated from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in 1983 with First Class Honours in Physiological Sciences and completed clinical training at St Thomas’ Hospital, earning the Mead Medal in Medicine and the Cheselden Medal in Surgery. Maxwell obtained a DPhil in Medicine at Oxford supported by a Medical Research Council fellowship. His postgraduate training in nephrology began in 1987 at Hammersmith Hospital, followed by positions at Guy's Hospital and Oxford, where he joined Peter Ratcliffe’s research group in 1991 for eleven years. Prior roles include Professor of Nephrology at Imperial College and, from 2008, Professor of Medicine and Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at University College London.

Maxwell’s research centres on cellular oxygen sensing, particularly hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF), and genetic renal diseases. Seminal contributions encompass the oxygen-dependent prolyl hydroxylation of HIF, detailed in publications such as “Targeting of HIF-α to the von Hippel-Lindau Ubiquitylation Complex by O2-Regulated Prolyl Hydroxylation” (Science, 2001) and “The tumour suppressor protein VHL targets hypoxia-inducible factors for oxygen-dependent proteolysis” (Nature, 1999). He identified prolyl hydroxylase domain enzymes in 2002, facilitating HIF stabilisers and oral erythropoietin-stimulating agents now used globally. Additional discoveries include erythropoietin production by kidney fibroblasts and HIF-2’s role in clear cell renal carcinoma. In 2003, he co-founded ReOx, an Oxford University spin-out. Maxwell holds a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award and NIHR Senior Investigator Emeritus status. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Academy of Medical Sciences, received the CBE in 2024 for services to medical research, and delivered the Goulstonian Lecture. He directs Cambridge University Health Partners and serves as non-executive director for Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge Enterprise, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, and International Biotechnology Trust.