Rate My Professor Timothy Key

Professor Timothy Key is Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Oxford in the Nuffield Department of Population Health. He holds the degrees BVM&S, MSc and DPhil. He joined the University of Oxford in 1985 as a Doctoral Research Studentship holder in the Cancer Epidemiology Unit and progressed through positions as Research Scientist, Senior Scientist and Principal Scientist before becoming Professor of Epidemiology and Deputy Director of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit in 2004. His main research interests are the roles of diet and hormones in the aetiology of cancer, particularly cancers of the breast, prostate and colon, and the health status of vegetarians and vegans. He works primarily on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) as a member of the Steering Committee for the Oxford cohort of 60,000 subjects, including 30,000 people who do not eat meat.

Key has published over 800 papers. He was elected to the Academia Europaea in 2023. He has served on multiple scientific advisory committees and working groups, including as Chair of the Endogenous Hormones and Breast Cancer Collaborative Group since 2000, Chair of the EPIC Prostate Cancer Group from 1999 to 2020, member of the UK Department of Health Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition from 2001 to 2018, member of the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition assessment of plant-based drinks since 2021, and various roles with the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization. He received honors for epidemiological studies of health in vegetarians from Loma Linda University in 2008 and was ranked in the top 100 scientists in the UK by Research.com in 2022.