Professor Michael A Patton

Professor Michael Patton is a Consultant Clinical Geneticist and Head of the Medical Genetics Section at St George’s.

He was appointed to St George’s in 1986 and was responsible for setting up the South West Thames Regional Genetic Service which provides clinical and laboratory services for a population of 3 million in South West London, Surrey and West Sussex. He was administrative head of the NHS service for 17 years.

His research is primarily in the field of clinical genetics and dysmorphology.He has led a research group that has investigated Noonan syndrome and was involved in the discovery of the causative gene PTPN11. He has also had a research interest in clinical delineation and homozygosity mapping for autosomal recessive syndromes in inbred communities such as Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait Iran and the Amish community in Ohio. He has published over 170 peer reviewed papers.

He has also set up the Birth Defects Foundation UK and has been Medical Director of the charity since its inception. The charity is one of the leading children’s research charities in the UK and has funded over 90 research projects.

He was a founding member of the Expert Witness Institute and has practiced widely as a medicolegal expert. He appeared for the defence in the Angela Cannings and Trupti Patel murder trials.

He works as a consultant to the biodiagnostics industry and to Warwick Business School.

Selected publications

The T box transcription factor gene TBX22 is mutated in X linked cleft palate and ankyloglossia. Braybook C, Doudney K, Marcano AC, Arnason A, Bjornsson A, PattonMA, Goodfellow PJ, Moore GE, Stanier P. Nat Genet 2001; 29: 179-83

Mutations in the protein tyrosine phosphatase gene PTPN11 cause Noonan syndrome. Tartaglia M, Mehler EL, Goldberg R, Zampino G, Brunner H, Kremer H, van der Burgt I, Crosby A H, Ion A, Jeffery S, Kalidas K, Patton MA, Kucherlapati RS, Gelb B. Nature Genetics 2001; 29:465-8

Differing priorities for medical research funding. Patton MA. Arch Dis Child. 2005 90:1101.

Infantile-onset symptomatic epilepsy syndrome caused by a homozygous loss-of-function mutation of GM3 synthase. Simpson MA, Cross H, Proukakis C, Priestman DA, Neville DC, Reinkensmeier G,Wang H, Wiznitzer M, Gurtz K, Verganelaki A, Pryde A, Patton MA, Dwek RA, Butters TD, Platt FM, Crosby AH. Nat Genet. 2004;36:1225-9

Chaters in Forfar & Arneil’s Textbook of Paediatrics; Heart Disease in Pregnancy; Congenital Malformation Syndromes; Growth Disorders.