Professor Graham Hughes, Head of the Lupus Centre, London

Every morning, Professor Graham Hughes looks at the picture of global Lupus Experts hanging aside his desk, the people sitting in his waiting room and the letters from grateful patients and is silently thankful that a mistake made more than 30 years ago turned into an inspirational adventure of research that has allowed him to transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world.

In the 1960s, the field of rheumatology was based heavily on 'rehabilitation and physical therapy'. And having won a medical prize — in cardiology — Dr Hughes was keen on a 'traditional' career course and set off to Brompton Hospital to take up such a role accordingly. His life course changed dramatically, however, when an administrative mistake saw him interviewed for 'the wrong job' (a non-cardiology job) to the gain of the rheumatological sciences. His boss, Michael Mason (one of the very first Rheumatologists) told him to think seriously about the alternatives and gave Professor Hughes a chapter to edit in his latest textbook. That chapter was about the condition of Lupus ... about which Professor Hughes "knew next to nothing" but he found himself gripped. With only £3,000 of a Giegy-Fellowship grant in his pocket, Professor Hughes uprooted his family to New York and followed his dream of unearthing rheumatological solutions to the auspicious clinical and research facility headed up by Charles Christian. He still remembers landing at JFK on a sticky summer's day and his first meeting with his new boss who drove up to him in the carpark, wound down his window and laid down the challenge – "race you"! The hedonistic hiatus was set and was such a contrast to the more formal mentality of research in the UK at the time. Professor Hughes recalls the buzz from that very second of being on the brink of major breakthroughs ... zooming along FDR Drive and chasing, at last, his dream of making a difference. During his two years in the US he helped introduce a new test for Lupus (the "Farr" test for DNA antibodies) and grew even more determined to revolutionise the rheumatology field on home ground.

Motivated by the learning experience. Professor Hughes returned to the UK and set up the first EU clinic specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of Lupus. Undeterred by critics who told him he was wasting his time on a condition so rare, Professor Hughes felt compelled to keep researching, keep looking, keep seeking answers for patients. He steadily built up his research team who mostly comprised non-British Fellows from Spain, Italy, France and South America and were funded by their own determination. Professor Hughes recalls that "we were probably quite a mad-looking bunch because at that time the career structure was confining, the NHS was in decline and we were governed by increasing beaurocracy". The team valiantly researched by begging and borrowing educational grants from industry; to date they have never received a grant from any of the prestigious research bodies. Professor Hughes remains both astonished and full of praise for the pharmaceutical industry who he praises for "always supporting us financially with absolutely no strings attached even though there is very little commercial gain for them in this subfield."

Fervent research through the team saw the publication of the first of what has grown to be >900 Lupus and the 'Hughes Syndrome'. The day of publication in The Lancet – November 26th, of the first major paper on the new syndrome – was not only the Professor's birthday and a landmark for medical science, but was a turning point for Professor Hughes and the team to finally receive accolade for their quiet, determined dedication. They celebrated with an understated generosity of spirit (which is typical of Professor Hughes)... trudging to the local café for a celebratory lunch.

Frustratingly it took another two years for people to realize the significance of the work of the team. Today, making that crucial link between antiphospholipid antibodies in the blood, which results in 'stickiness' that is causative in multiple miscarriages and many other conditions yet can be ameliorated through a simple blood diagnostic test and treatment with a thinning agent has had profound affects to improve and change the lives of so many.

To Professor Hughes, however, the thrill of the research is always eclipsed by the capacity to help the patient and to encourage other people to achieve their potential. Thanks to the unassuming diligence of Professor Hughes, people are living longer, better lives and 'progeny' have multiplied – literally in helping people to have children and metaphorically helping his own 'research family and focus to grow.

Professor Hughes elegantly balances the goals of finding answers to complex problems posed by disease and the real human challenges that his patients face every day. Annually he runs a 48-hour '10 Topics' postgraduate educational meeting in multiple countries (which is entirely funded by industry support) that is a beacon for students and researchers to put their passions to good work. And every year he has a party with his patients where he makes a point of reminding himself of the founding guidance of his first boss – "When you meet a patient you must ask yourself two questions; 1. What can you do to help them?; 2. What can they tell us to help us?".

The best advice that Professor Hughes can pass on to a Protégé is to be brave, be consistent, be prepared to defy conventional thinking – "Dream big and dream on, don't be inhibited by "the system". If you think you have a good idea, have confidence in yourself, work hard and take the alternative route." Indeed it was an interviewing mistake that led Professor Hughes into rheumatology rather than cardiology and it took great courage for Professor Hughes to trust his instincts in the face of adversity.

Many are privileged thanks to his grace and fortitude.