Richard Gilbertson is Professor of Oncology at Cancer Research UK. He has pioneered the field of cross-species genomics; using data generated from patient samples to design accurate mouse models, directly informing understanding of the biology and treatment of paediatric brain tumours. |Armed with knowledge gained from his study of brain tumours, Gilbertson has also generated organism-wide maps of cancer risk across all organs; demonstrating for the first time that a ‘perfect storm’ of stem cell activity, mutation and tissue damage govern the risk of tumourigenesis in all tissues. These data have profound implications for understanding the origin and prevention of all cancers.