Justin Stebbing

Justin Stebbing is Professor of Cancer Medicine and Oncology at Imperial College London,[1] specializing in immunotherapy for breast, gastrointestinal, and lung cancers.[2][3][4] He graduated with a first class degree from Trinity College, Oxford,[1]. After completion of junior doctor positions in Oxford, he trained as on the residency programme at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US, returning to London to continue his career in oncology at The Royal Marsden and then St Bartholomew's Hospitals. Professor Stebbing’s original PhD research investigated the interplay between the immune system and cancer. In 2007 he was appointed a senior lecturer, and then in 2009 a Professor, at Imperial College London.[5]

He has published over 600 peer-reviewed papers in academic journals,[1] and has an h-index of 74 according to Google Scholar.[6] He is an Editor-in-Chief of the journal Oncogene.[7] He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the American Board of Internal Medicine and the Royal College of Pathologists.[8] On 29th October 2021 a paper from the scientific journal Nucleic Acids Research, in which Professor Justin Stebbing was senior author, was retracted by the editors due to the authors being unable to produce the original raw image files for either the journal or the institutions, and the original data being no longer available, and not being available in 2017 when these concerns were first raised.[9]

In 2021, Professor Justin Stebbing was investigated by the General Medical Council over allegations that he failed to provide adequate care to 11 patients. Stebbing had temporary restrictions placed on his practice as a result, and the case was referred to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service for formal adjudication. The charges revolved around administering aggressive therapies to 12 dying patients based on unrealistic assessments of their prognoses and likelihoods of benefit, and falsely claiming to a private insurer that he had multidisciplinary support for his recommendations.[2] On 6 October 2021 Professor Stebbing was found guilty of providing inappropriate treatment to terminally-ill cancer patients, and other charges. The tribunal was deciding if his fitness to practice had been impaired, and what what sanctions, if any, to impose.[10] Ahead of the ruling 1,000 pages of testimonials from former and current patients, relatives of deceased patients, and medical colleagues were submitted in support of Professor Justin Stebbing. Many of the testimonials were from patients who were still alive and had come to him as referrals from other oncologists after being told "to go home and die". Testimonials from colleagues about Professor Justin Stebbing's performance cited no complaints or claims against him since 2017.[11]