Prof Peter Johnson

Who Prof Peter Johnson is

Professor Peter Johnson CBE MD FRCP FMedSci is National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England, a post he has held since 2019, and Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Southampton. He is also Chair of the UK Office for Life Sciences Cancer Healthcare Goals programme. His work at NHS England spans policy aimed at improving cancer survival, with a particular focus on earlier and faster diagnosis and treatment. He was previously Chief Clinician for Cancer Research UK (2008–2017) and Director of the Francis Crick Institute Cancer Research Network (2017–2019). He qualified in medicine from Cambridge and St Thomas's Medical School, completed oncology training and doctoral research at St Bartholomew's Hospital, and is a medical oncologist specialising in lymphoma, with research interests in immunotherapy, lymphoma biology, precision medicine, and clinical trials.

References for this biography

1. 1.NHS England – Professor Peter Johnson (author page) — Current role as National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England; Chair of UK Office for Life Sciences cancer goal; research interests; former Chief Clinician at CRUK
2. 2.Southampton Professor to lead national cancer programme – University of Southampton — Appointment as National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England and Improvement in 2019; role chairing Clinical Advisory Group; continued clinical work in lymphoma at UHS
3. 3.Cancer Healthcare Goals – GOV.UK — Role as chair of Cancer Healthcare Goals programme; tenure as National Clinical Director since 2019; prior roles at Francis Crick Institute and Cancer Research UK; MANIFEST grant
4. 4.Professor Peter Johnson – University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust — Clinical background; CBE awarded 2016; accreditation in medical oncology; experience in lymphoma including high-dose therapy and stem cell transplantation
5. 5.Professor Peter Johnson – UK Lung Cancer Coalition speaker profile — Chief Clinician for Cancer Research UK 2008–2017; set up UK's first dedicated Centre for Cancer Immunology in Southampton; research interests
6. 6.NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad – NHS England — Establishment and aims of the CVLP platform; target of 10,000 patients by 2030; collaboration with BioNTech and Genomics England
7. 7.Professor Peter Johnson – University of Southampton staff page — Current academic role as Professor of Medical Oncology; ORCID; membership of Centre for Cancer Immunology and Institute for Life Sciences
8. 8.Professor Peter Johnson awarded CBE – University of Southampton Centre for Cancer Immunology — CBE awarded in 2016 for services to medicine and higher education; leadership in oncology and immunotherapy; instrumental role in establishing Centre for Cancer Immunology

Notable achievements

• Appointed National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England in 2019, chairing the Clinical Advisory Group providing clinical input into the National Cancer Programme. Source ↗
• Awarded CBE in 2016 for services to medicine and higher education, recognising his leadership in oncology and immunotherapy. Source ↗
• Instrumental in establishing the UK's first dedicated Centre for Cancer Immunology at the University of Southampton. Source ↗
• Led the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP), established in September 2023 to fast-track patient access to mRNA personalised cancer vaccine and immunotherapy clinical trials, aiming to provide up to 10,000 patients with personalised cancer treatments by 2030. Source ↗
• Chair of the UK Office for Life Sciences Cancer Healthcare Goals programme, co-funding a £9m grant with the Medical Research Council to the MANIFEST immunotherapy platform. Source ↗

What Prof Peter Johnson has said

• “Children with cancer need the best specialist treatment and this can sometimes mean repeated long-distance travel, adding to the pressures families face during some of the most difficult times of their lives. This new fund will be available regardless of income so families avoid having to choose between being at their child's bedside and covering the cost of travelling there.”

  National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England · Cancer · 30 Sept 2026 · Government to cover travel costs of children with cancer ↗

• “Our National Cancer Plan sets out how we will deliver world-class care for cancer patients. Bringing together clinical experts, charity leaders and patients to scrutinise progress will help ensure we deliver on our commitments, while dedicated leads for rare cancers, children and young people, and inequalities will give a stronger voice to those who can too often be overlooked.”

  National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England · Cancer · 30 Sept 2026 · Expert team to drive improvements in cancer care ↗

• “bringing clinicians, charities and patients together would provide additional scrutiny of the plan's implementation”

  NHS England's national clinical director for cancer · Cancer · 21 Sept 2026 · New National Cancer Board launched to drive improvements in diagnosis, treatment and care ↗

• “This is a major step forward in bowel cancer detection and will help save hundreds more lives from this devastating disease. Testing at a lower threshold will now provide a better early-warning system for bowel cancer, helping us to spot and treat cancers earlier, often picking up problems before symptoms appear.”

  NHS England's clinical director for cancer · Cancer · 10 Sept 2026 · NHS England to lower FIT test threshold triggering bowel cancer investigation ↗

• “Finding out you have an inherited risk of cancer can be life-changing, but it also supports people to access tailored advice on risk-reducing steps and vital monitoring, to increase the chances of any cancers being picked up early or even preventing the disease altogether.”

  NHS England clinical director for cancer · Cancer · 10 Sept 2026 · NHS to set up registry of patients at high genetic risk of cancer to guide screening ↗

• “'Lung cancer checks and scans save lives, so it's fantastic the NHS has now diagnosed over 10,000 people — the majority at an early stage, when treatment is most effective,' said Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England national clinical director for cancer.”

  NHS England national clinical director for cancer · Cancer · 10 Sept 2026 · Over 10,000 cases of lung cancer caught by NHS scanning trucks ↗

• “This decision provides another welcome treatment option for patients living with an advanced and aggressive form of prostate cancer.”

  clinical director for cancer at NHS England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Prostate cancer drug that can halve death risk to be offered to thousands in England ↗

• “There is growing evidence of the benefits of physical activity for people affected by cancer and our specialist teams across the country are there to help patients at each stage of their care, including supporting them to be as active as possible before, during and after treatment.”

  NHS England's National Director for Cancer · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Offer cancer patients exercise on NHS, major charity urges ↗

• “The NHS will continue to work hard to offer people the most effective and evidence-based treatments, with several new prostate cancer drugs rolled out over the last five years.”

  national clinical director at NHS England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS expands access to prostate cancer drug in England to save thousands of lives ↗

• “This is a major step forward in bowel cancer detection and will help save hundreds more lives from this devastating disease. Testing at a lower level threshold will now provide a better early warning system for bowel cancer, helping us to spot and treat cancers earlier, often picking up problems before symptoms occur.”

  NHS England's national clinical director for cancer · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS to increase sensitivity of bowel cancer test in England ↗

• “This is a glimpse of the future of cancer detection”

  NHS England's national clinical director for cancer · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS England to trial AI and robotic tools to detect and diagnose lung cancer ↗

• “This plan sets a clear roadmap for the NHS to diagnose more cancers earlier, ensure more patients are treated on time and improve survival, so that hundreds of thousands more people live longer, healthier lives with or after cancer over the next decade.”

  NHS clinical director for cancer · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Three-quarters of cancer patients in England will survive by 2035, government pledges ↗

• “This immunotherapy offers a lifeline for thousands of patients and it's fantastic that this new rapid jab can now take just a minute to deliver – meaning patients can get back to living their lives rather than spending hours in a hospital chair.”

  NHS national clinical director for cancer · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Thousands of cancer patients in England to benefit from new immunotherapy jab ↗

• “Melanoma skin cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and these figures are a stark reminder of the importance of staying safe in the sun. And if you notice anything unusual like a new mole, a changing lesion or any patch of skin that doesn't look right then please don't wait to contact your GP because catching cancer early really does save lives.”

  National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Melanoma skin cancer cases in UK hit record level, analysis finds ↗

• “We look forward to seeing the data from the trial in detail, to help us make decisions on what this could mean for the NHS in the future.”

  national clinical director for cancer at NHS England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Trial of multi-cancer blood test among 142,000 NHS patients fails to meet main aim ↗

• “Most of the cancer immune treatments we have been using up til now have been about cutting the immune system loose and hoping that it recognises the cancer. This [new treatment] is a way to direct it very specifically. It feels like it's a very important advance for us.”

  National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England · Cancer · 27 Aug 2026 · Vaccine breakthrough stops cancer returning in trial ↗

Where Prof Peter Johnson has been quoted

1. Greater access to breakthrough trials for rare cancer patientsgov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
2. Government to cover travel costs of children with cancergov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
3. Expert team to drive improvements in cancer caregov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
4. New National Cancer Board launched to drive improvements in diagnosis, treatment and careuknip.co.uk · 21 Sept 2026
5. NHS England to lower FIT test threshold triggering bowel cancer investigationpulsetoday.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
6. NHS to set up registry of patients at high genetic risk of cancer to guide screeningpulsetoday.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
7. Over 10,000 cases of lung cancer caught by NHS scanning truckspulsetoday.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
8. Prostate cancer drug that can halve death risk to be offered to thousands in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
9. Offer cancer patients exercise on NHS, major charity urgestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
10. NHS expands access to prostate cancer drug in England to save thousands of livestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
11. NHS to increase sensitivity of bowel cancer test in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
12. NHS England to trial AI and robotic tools to detect and diagnose lung cancertheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
13. Three-quarters of cancer patients in England will survive by 2035, government pledgestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
14. Thousands of cancer patients in England to benefit from new immunotherapy jabtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
15. Melanoma skin cancer cases in UK hit record level, analysis findstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
16. Trial of multi-cancer blood test among 142,000 NHS patients fails to meet main aimtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
17. Vaccine breakthrough stops cancer returning in trialbbc.co.uk · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• 'Terminal prostate cancer has taught me one lesson I want to pass on'BBC
• Leaders in Care Awards 2026 | Lifetime Achievement: Care Homes winner revealedHome Care Insight
• GP architect of neighbourhood health reforms to leave NHS EnglandPulse Today

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.england.nhs.uk/author/professor-peter-johnson/
• Staff pagehttps://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5wy7cm/professor-peter-johnson
• Staff pagehttps://www.uhs.nhs.uk/for-patients/find-your-consultant/professor-peter-johnson
• ORCIDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1343-2054published here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.