# Peter J. Ratcliffe

_British biologist & Nobel laureate in medicine_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/peter-j-ratcliffe
Last updated: 2026-10-31

> Sir Peter John Ratcliffe (born 14 May 1954) is a British physician-scientist who is trained as a nephrologist. He was a practising clinician at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford and Nuffield Professor of Clinical Medicine and head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford from 2004 to 2016. He has been a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford since 2004. In 2016 he became Clinical Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute, retaining a position at Oxford as a Member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and director of the Target Discovery Institute, University of Oxford.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 14 May 1954 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075967#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Morecambe ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075967#P19))
- **Citizenship:** United Kingdom ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075967#P27))
- **Occupation:** university teacher; nephrologist; researcher ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075967#P106))
- **Education:** Gonville and Caius College; Lancaster Royal Grammar School; Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry; University of London ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075967#P69))
- **Official website:** ndm.ox.ac.uk/principal-investigators/researcher/peter-ratcliffe ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075967#P856))
- **Awards:** Fellow of the Royal Society; Canada Gairdner International Award; Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research; Annual Review Prize Lecture; Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine; Knight Bachelor; Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences; EMBO Membership; Baly Medal; Scientific Grand Prize of the Lefoulon-Delalande Fondation; Croonian Medal and Lecture; Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Award for Distinguished Contributions to Cardiovascular Research; Buchanan Medal; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; Massry Prize ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075967#P166))

## About

Ratcliffe is best known for his work on cellular reactions to hypoxia, for which he shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with William Kaelin Jr. and Gregg L. Semenza.

## Questions

**When was Peter J. Ratcliffe born?**  
Peter J. Ratcliffe was born on 14 May 1954 in Morecambe.

**Where did Peter J. Ratcliffe study?**  
Peter J. Ratcliffe was educated at Gonville and Caius College, Lancaster Royal Grammar School, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London.

## Related

- [Aaron Klug](https://diginpl.com/people/aaron-klug)
- [Alan Hodgkin](https://diginpl.com/people/alan-hodgkin)
- [Andre Geim](https://diginpl.com/people/andre-geim)
- [Andrew Huxley](https://diginpl.com/people/andrew-huxley)
- [Antony Hewish](https://diginpl.com/people/antony-hewish)
- [Archer Martin](https://diginpl.com/people/archer-martin)
- [Arthur Harden](https://diginpl.com/people/arthur-harden)
- [Brian Josephson](https://diginpl.com/people/brian-josephson)
- [C. F. Powell](https://diginpl.com/people/c-f-powell)
- [C. T. R. Wilson](https://diginpl.com/people/c-t-r-wilson)
- [Charles Barkla](https://diginpl.com/people/charles-barkla)
- [Charles Scott Sherrington](https://diginpl.com/people/charles-scott-sherrington)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Peter J. Ratcliffe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J._Ratcliffe) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q2075967](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2075967) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Peter J. Ratcliffe (cropped).jpg by Secretaría de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva. (CC BY 2.5 ar)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peter_J._Ratcliffe_(cropped).jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Peter J. Ratcliffe, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Peter J. Ratcliffe (cropped).jpg — Secretaría de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva., CC BY 2.5 ar.

## Cite this page

"Peter J. Ratcliffe". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/peter-j-ratcliffe. Retrieved 4 November 2026.