Michael J. Reed (30 May 1944 – 6 April 2009) was a British chemist who held the position of professor of steroid biochemistry at Imperial College, London.

He then commenced research into the actions and metabolism of ethinyloestradiol with Ken Fotherby at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, culminating in a PhD in 1973.

He continued to work on the regulation of oestrogen synthesis in endometrial cancer before moving to St Mary's Hospital Medical School in 1976,[2] to join Vivian James in the Department of Chemical Pathology.

His principal work was on in vivo methods, using radioactive substrate infusions to calculate the extent of aromatisation in postmenopausal women with breast cancer.

The symposium focused on the main area of Reed's research – the production and role of female sex hormones in women with hormone-dependent cancers.