Professor Stephen Tait awarded the Hooke Medal
Published: 22 January 2026
Cancer scientist Professor Stephen Tait has been awarded the Hooke Medal by the British Society of Cell Biology (BSCB) for his contribution to the field
Cancer scientist Professor Stephen Tait has been awarded the Hooke Medal by the British Society of Cell Biology (BSCB) for his contribution to the field.
The Hooke Medal is awarded annually by the British Society of Cell Biology in recognition of an outstanding contribution to cell biology in the UK or Ireland.
Professor Tait was awarded the prize for his work on mitochondria – the tiny ‘powerhouses’ inside cells responsible for energy production.
A cell biologist, Professor Tait is based at both the University of Glasgow and the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute. His research focuses on the role of mitochondria in regulating cell death and inflammation, mainly in the context of cancer.
As undergraduate, Professor Tait studied Medical Microbiology at the University of Edinburgh, where he began a long-standing interest in pathogens and cell biology. He carried out a PhD at the Pirbright Institute, where he investigated immune evasion mechanisms employed by African swine fever virus.
He then carried out postdoctoral training stints at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, USA. During this time, he developed a deep interest in cancer cell death and mitochondria. It was also during this period that he discovered non-canonical ubiquitination as a means to control cell death sensitivity and defined how mitochondria enable cancer cell survival following therapy.
In 2012, supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Professor Tait started his own group at the University of Glasgow, based within the CRUK Scotland Institute. His lab continues to work on the multifaceted roles that mitochondria play in cancer development, spread and treatment response.
Key discoveries from his lab include: the paradoxical finding that sub-lethal apoptotic stress can be tumour promoting through the permeabilisation of select mitochondria; that killing cells under caspase-inhibition elicits anti-tumour immunity dependent on mitochondria signals, leading to tumour eradication; demonstrating that mitochondrial permeabilisation (during apoptosis) displays “pathogen mimicry” engaging various pro-inflammatory processes; and showing that senescence and apoptosis are regulated through similar mitochondrial-dependent processes.
Professor Tait said: “I am proud to be receiving the Hooke Medal and am grateful to the British Society of Cell Biology for this honour. This award recognises my own scientific achievements, but also serves to celebrate the brilliant work carried out by my whole research team, both past and present, in Glasgow.”
Professor Tait will be awarded the Hooke medal and deliver his prize-winning lecture at the BSCB Spring Meeting, Dynamic Cell VI in Reading, UK, on 21-24 April 2026.
Enquiries: ali.howard@glasgow.ac.uk or elizabeth.mcmeekin@glasgow.ac.uk
First published: 22 January 2026