Dr Len Stephens awarded the Morton Lecture

Dr Len Stephens, senior group leader and former Head of the Signalling research programme has been awarded the 2026 Morton Lecture award from The Biochemical Society. The Morton Lecture recognises outstanding contributions to lipid biochemistry.

In a research partnership with Dr Phill Hawkins, Len’s research career has been focused on discovering the workings of a key cell signalling pathway, the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signalling pathway, which controls cell growth, proliferation, cell survival and metabolism in response to external signals received by the cell.

Together, and working from the research legacy of former Institute colleagues including Dr Rex Dawson, Dr Alec Bangham, Sir Michael Berridge, Professor Rob Irvine and Professor Michael Wakelam, Len and Phil discovered fundamental aspects of this pathway and pioneered methods to enable further biological understanding of how the pathway functions in health and disease.

From being deeply rooted in fundamental biology Len has also impacted the translation of his work to drug discovery campaigns. With ground-breaking work in the 1990s and 2000s, Len’s work contributed to the greater body of knowledge that has established PI3Ks as major regulators of cell growth, survival and movement and consequently as therapeutic targets in cancer and potentially for inflammatory diseases and metabolic disorders.

Len was nominated for the award by colleague and Institute Director, Dr Simon Cook. Dr Cook said: “It felt very important to me that Len’s game-changing contributions to lipid biochemistry and the impact this has had on advances in drug discovery were recognised, and how better than by receiving the Morton Prize on the eve of his retirement?

“Together with Phill, their foundational contributions have been characterised by a clarity of thought and technical creativity that I think is a hallmark of their approach. Beyond being awed by their research contributions, I’m hugely grateful to both Len and Phill for their contributions to the Signalling programme and to the Institute as a whole.”

Speaking about the award, Len said: “Hearing that I’d been awarded the Morton Lecture was amazing news. The award has a long and rich history of bringing attention to outstanding work on lipids and it is very humbling to think the work our team has done will be listed as recipients. Although I am retiring this year, the award will hopefully give those team members who will be continuing to work on lipids a little extra enthusiasm and impetus knowing their work is appreciated.”

Len will receive his award from Prof. Patrick Eyers, Morton Lecture Representative and Johnston Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Liverpool, and give the 2026 Morton Lecture at the celebratory symposium held at the Institute on 1^st and 2^nd May 2025 to mark his and Phill’s careers at the Institute. Although stepping away from leading their research team both Len and Phill continue their association with the Institute as honorary group leaders.

The Morton Lecture is awarded biennially and is named after R.A. Morton FRS, spectroscopy pioneer and Johnston Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Liverpool from 1944-1966. Former Institute recipients are Phill Hawkins (2006) and former Institute Director Prof. Michael Wakelam (2018). For the full list of 2026 award recipients see the announcement from the Biochemical Society and more information on the Biochemical Society Awards, please visit: https://www.biochemistry.org/Awards

Career snapshot

Len received a BSc in Biology (1981) and a PhD in Physiology (1984) from the University of Birmingham. After post-doctoral training in Smith Kline & French Research Ltd (now GlaxoSmithKline), he joined the Institute in 1987 in its former format as the AFRC Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research (IAPGR), which became the Babraham Institute in 1993, working with Robin Irvine. He became a staff scientist in the inositide laboratory in 1992 and took the leadership of the laboratory alongside Phill Hawkins in 1996. Len led the Institute’s Signalling research programme from 2003-2020 and in 2011 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Notes

Press contact: Dr Louisa Wood, Head of Communications, louisa.wood@babraham.ac.uk

Image description: Main image shows Len Stephens with three images associated with his research area: Front image (left): Image of prostate tissue from a PTEN-knockout mouse with cells stained to show hyperactive PI3K signalling (red, orange and yellow areas indicate increased intensity of PI3K activation) (learn more). Second image (top right): A section of a painting representing PI3K signalling as an electric circuit in the cell (learn more). Backmost image (bottom): Histological stain of prostate tissue from a PTEN-knockout mouse showing early stages of tumour growth..