Laureation Address: Professor Sir Stephen Holgate CBE MAE
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Medicine
Laureation by Professor Peter Donnelly, School of Medicine
Friday 3 July 2026 – morning ceremony
Chancellor, it is my privilege to present for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, honoris causa, Professor Sir Stephen Holgate.
Professor Holgate is an outstanding clinical academic whose research, teaching and clinical work have greatly enhanced the care of people with asthma and viral respiratory diseases globally over the past five decades. He is also a very supportive colleague.
Sir Stephen is a Medical Research Council Clinical Professor of Immunopharmacology and Honorary Consultant Physician within the Department of Medicine at the University of Southampton. His research has focused on the mechanisms of asthma and allergy, and his work has resulted in over 980 publications. His current research extends to stratified medicine, the role of the epithelium in orchestrating asthma and the evolution of asthma across a lifetime.
During his tenure as a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Southampton, where he helped start their new medical school, Stephen researched the link between asthma-related fatalities and the overuse of beta-adrenergic bronchodilator inhalers. In 1980, he established a dedicated research group concentrating on the mechanisms of asthma. In the same year, he completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Robert Brigham Hospital and Harvard University, supported by an MRC endowment and the Wellcome Trust.
In his capacity as a clinical scientist, Stephen has significantly advanced the understanding and treatment of allergic and respiratory diseases, encompassing asthma, COPD, and the critical domain of COVID-19. His impactful contributions transcend disciplinary boundaries, spanning the realms of science, medicine, public health, and policy initiatives, all directed towards enhancing the well-being of patients and society at large. Embodying the essence of a true physician-scientist, he has played a pivotal role in advancing respiratory and environmental health on various fronts: from uncovering novel scientific principles to translating them into more effective therapies for asthma, COPD, and COVID-19.
In 2000, Stephen and his team made a groundbreaking research breakthrough – by identifying the first asthma gene, ADAM33, which they then reported in the journal Nature in 2001. This particular susceptibility gene has been shown to be linked to airway hyper-responsiveness and remodelling in chronic asthma, revolutionising the field.
Another example of his pioneering, scientific approach was in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which was long considered a psychosomatic problem. He set up in the CFS/ME Research Collaborative, obtained support from the Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research which led to the delivery of the Decode ME study. This provided evidence that ME/CFS is a neurological and immunological disease with parallels to Long Covid.
In 1990, Stephen played a pivotal role in founding the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants. He has been President of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the British Thoracic Society, and is currently President of the British Association for Lung Research.
He has chaired several committees responsible for generating influential reports aimed at shaping government policies. For example, he made the case that asthma was the principal cause of death in a 9-year-old girl in London who had 27 hospital admissions and died, tragically, from her asthma. This
was the first time air pollution has appeared on a death certificate named as a cause of death. He was a UKRI Clean Air Champion for the UK, helping connect new research in air pollution and went on to publish three Royal College of Physician Reports on the damaging effects of air pollution on health that are shaping policy in this area.
Stephen was also the Chair of the MRC Population and Systems Medicine Board, the MRC Translational Research Group, and the UK Government Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants.
His affiliations include being a founder member of the Academy of Medical Sciences and Council Member of the Clinical and Veterinary Section of the Academia Europaea. Moreover, he acts as a Special Advisor to the Royal College of Physicians on Air Quality and is a current member of the National Environment Research Council
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to immunopharmacology, Stephen has garnered numerous honours, including the King Faisal and the J. Allyn Taylor International Prizes in Medicine. Notably, in 2011, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and was knighted in 2020 for services to medical research.
Sir Stephen’s support for colleagues is well known in the field and his advice is always freely given and can be the key to other’s success.
Chancellor, in recognition of his outstanding contributions in epidemiology and clinical research, I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Medicine, honoris causa, on Professor Sir Stephen Holgate.