Thomas Powles

Thomas Powles, MBBS, MRCP, MD is Professor of Genitourinary Oncology and Director of Barts Cancer Centre at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London. He is one of Europe's leading oncologists specializing in bladder and urothelial cancer, with a focus on translating immunotherapy and targeted therapy discoveries into practice-changing clinical trial outcomes. His research spans the full spectrum of genitourinary malignancies, with particular expertise in urothelial carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma. Dr. Powles is best known as the principal investigator of JAVELIN Bladder 100, the landmark phase III trial demonstrating that avelumab maintenance immunotherapy following first-line platinum-based chemotherapy significantly prolonged overall survival in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2020, JAVELIN Bladder 100 established avelumab maintenance as the new standard of care for patients who had not progressed on platinum chemotherapy, representing the first therapy to demonstrate an overall survival benefit in this maintenance setting. Dr. Powles has also contributed to earlier immunotherapy trials in bladder cancer, including foundational work with atezolizumab. Beyond bladder cancer, Professor Powles has led major international trials in renal cell carcinoma and published extensively on immunotherapy biomarkers, tumor microenvironment, and combination strategies in genitourinary oncology. He serves on multiple international guideline committees including ESMO and EAU, and his team at Barts Cancer Centre is recognized globally for both clinical excellence and high-impact translational research. He has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications.