Professor Thomas was appointed to the Chair of Experimental Pathology in 2009. He trained in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology at University College Hospital, London, gaining his FDSRCS in 1994, MRCPath in 2004 and FRCPath in 2008. He undertook his PhD as an MRC Clinical Fellow at University College London and the Richard Dimblebey Department of Cancer Research, studying the functional role of alphav integrins in keratinocytes (1996-1999). In 2004 he was awarded a 5-year Clinician Scientist Fellowship from the Heath Foundation/Royal College of Pathologists to develop novel tumour therapies based on alphavbeta6 integrin expression in head and neck cancer. He was appointed Professor of Oral Pathology and Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology at Barts and the London in 2007.

Professor Thomas’ research focuses on the tumour microenvironment, particularly how it in regulates mechanisms that promote tumour cell invasion/metastasis and immune evasion. Group members have been awarded a number of national and international prizes for this work.

Induction of fibroblast senescence generates a non-fibrogenic myofibroblast phenotype that differentially impacts on cancer prognosis - Mellone, Massimiliano, Hanley, Christopher, Thirdborough, Stephen, Mellows, Toby, Garcia, Edwin, Woo, Jeongmin, Tod, Joanne, Frampton, Steven, Jenei, Veronika, Moutasim, Karwan, Kabir, Tasnuva D., Brennan, Peter A, Venturi, Giulia, Ford, Kirsty, Herranz, Nicolas, Lim, Kue Peng, Clarke, James, Lambert, Daniel W., Prime, Stephen S., Underwood, Timothy J., Vijayanand, Pandurangan, Eliceiri, Kevin W., Woelk, Christopher, King, Emma, Gil, Jesus, Ottensmeier, Christian and Thomas, Gareth Published:2016Publication:AgingPage Range:1-19doi:10.18632/aging.101127PMID:27992856 Human papillomavirus drives tumor development throughout the head and neck: improved prognosis is associated with an immune response largely restricted to the oropharynx - Chakravarthy, Ankur, Henderson, Stephen, Thirdborough, Stephen M., Ottensmeier, Christian H., Su, Xiaoping, Lechner, Matt, Feber, Andrew, Thomas, Gareth J. and Fenton, Tim R. Published:2016Publication:Journal of Clinical OncologyPage Range:1-12doi:10.1200/JCO.2016.68.2955 Authentication and characterisation of a new oesophageal adenocarcinoma cell line: MFD-1 - Garcia, Edwin, Hayden, Annette, Birts, Charles, Britton, Edward, Cowie, Andrew, Pickard, Karen, Mellone, Massimiliano, Choh, Clarisa, Derouet, Mathieu, Duriez, Patrick, Noble, Fergus, White, Michael J., Primrose, John, Strefford, Jonathan C., Rose-Zerilli, Matthew, Thomas, Gareth, Ang, Yeng, Sharrocks, Andrew D., Fitzgerald, Rebecca C. and Underwood, Timothy J. Published:2016Publication:Scientific reportsVolume:6, (32417)Page Range:1-12doi:10.1038/srep32417PMID:27600491 HPV-related oropharynx cancer in the United Kingdom: an evolution in the understanding of disease etiology - Schache, Andrew G., Powell, Ned G., Cuschieri, Kate S., Robinson, Max, Leary, Sam, Mehanna, Hisham, Rapozo, Davy, Long, Anna, Cubie, Heather, Junor, Elizabeth, Monaghan, Hannah, Harrington, Kevin J., Nutting, Christopher M., Schick, Ulrike, Lau, Andy S., Upile, Navdeep, Sheard, Jon, Brougham, Kath, West, Catharine M.L., Oguejiofor, Ken, Thomas, Steve, Ness, Andy R., Pring, Miranda, Thomas, Gareth J., King, Emma V., McCance, Dennis J., James, Jacqueline A., Moran, Michael, Sloan, Phil, Shaw, Richard J., Evans, Mererid and Jones, Terry M. Published:2016Publication:Cancer ResearchVolume:76, (22)Page Range:6598-6606doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-0633PMID:27569214