Dr Stephen Karp undertook his pre-clinical studies at Kings College London where he also obtained an intercalated BSc in Pharmacology (first class honours). He graduated in medicine from Westminster Hospital Medical School in 1979 with a distinction in surgery. His postgraduate training included cardiology at Hammersmith Hospital and neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, as well as general medicine at The Whittington Hospital.

He was a gastroenterology registrar at Northwick Park Hospital and trained in clinical oncology at the Middlesex Hospital and Mount Vernon Hospital. Although Dr Karp was trained and initially practised in almost all areas of oncology, he now specialises in treating cancers of the breast, GI tract (colorectal, oesophago-gastric, pancreatic) and urological cancer (prostate and bladder cancer) with chemotherapy, hormone therapy, biological therapy and radiotherapy. In radiotherapy he offers treatment using the robotic radiosurgery system, CyberKnife, as well as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and Image-Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT). Dr Karp also carries out medico-legal work related to cancer.