The Academy of Medical Sciences has elected 60 outstanding biomedical and health scientists to its influential Fellowship*, it has been announced today [Wednesday 11 May 2022].
The new Fellows have been recognised for their remarkable contributions to biomedical and health science and their ability to generate new knowledge and improve the health of people everywhere.
At a time when COVID-19 has added to the challenges young people face, many of the Academy’s newly elected Fellows are at the forefront of child and adolescent health. New Fellow Professor Cathy Creswell FMedSci is using her knowledge of the development and treatment of anxiety disorders to understand and address the impact of the pandemic and lockdowns on children’s mental health. Professor Russell Viner FMedSci set up the first Adolescent Medicine service in the UK and went on to become the UK's first Professor of Adolescent Health. Most recently, his research has helped ensure that UK policy makers have the best evidence to make decisions about COVID-19 vaccination for children and young people. Another new Fellow, Professor Helen Minnis FMedSci, is an expert in child and adolescent psychiatry and co-produced a teacher-parent intervention as an alternative to school closures during lockdown, a system which could benefit thousands of parents, teachers, and schoolchildren.
Other newly elected Fellows are also helping to improve the lives of young people. New Fellow Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore FMedSci’s research on the adolescent brain using behavioural and neuroimaging methods has influenced policy on education, mental health and criminal justice. Professor Jonathan Green FMedSci, a child psychiatrist, has developed a novel therapeutic approach to help parents better support the development of their autistic children.
The new Fellows are advancing biomedical sciences in innovative ways for a broad range of health challenges. New Fellow Dr Chun-Wa Chung FMedSci’s work at GlaxoSmithKline on epigenetic proteins has enabled the design of new protein inhibitors, with several progressed into clinical trials for cancer and inflammatory diseases. Professor Nicola Curtin FMedSci has also made major contributions to the development of new classes of anticancer drugs, including a life-saving ovarian cancer treatment. Dr Sjors Scheres FMedSci has developed new methods to visualise the structures of proteins from the human brain and reported the first ever high-resolution structures of Alzheimer's disease tau filaments, which had important implications for disease classifications.
Demonstrating the team science principle that the Academy embodies, Professor Mary Renfrew FMedSci, the first midwife to be elected to the Academy, developed multidisciplinary collaborations which have had a profound impact on public health policy and midwifery practice nationally and internationally. Professor Catherine Sudlow FMedSci is a clinical epidemiologist who promotes the use of large scale, collaborative, big data approaches to understand the causes, consequences of, and best treatments for a wide range of diseases.
Professor Dame Anne Johnson PMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences said:
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome these 60 experts to the Fellowship to help to address the major health challenges facing society.
“Each of the new Fellows has made important contributions to the health of our society, with a breadth of expertise ranging from the physical and mental health of young people to parasitic diseases and computational biology.
“The diversity of biomedical and health expertise within our Fellowship is a formidable asset that in the past year has informed our work on critical issues such as tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the health impacts of climate change, addressing health inequalities, and making the case for funding science. The new Fellows of 2022 will be critical to helping us deliver our ambitious 10-year strategy that we will launch later this year.”
Professor Guy Poppy FMedSci, Director of the UKRI ‘Transforming the UK food system’ programme, University of Southampton, has been elected as a new Fellow:
“I was really thrilled and excited when I heard I was to be elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
“I work on the food system, which has such a big impact on everybody’s daily lives; the way we produce food affects people’s health and the climate, and the climate in turn affects how we produce food and people’s health.
“There has never been a more important time in history to be involved in public health and environmental health. All of the big issues, whether it’s the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, or geopolitical issues arising from war, these all impinge on the environment and ultimately on human health. The Academy is an organisation that brings together science leaders to create transformations that will improve the health of the public, and I look forward to working with them.”
Professor Dame Jessica Corner FMedSci, Registrar of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said:
“I warmly welcome the new cohort of Fellows and am grateful to those who have worked hard to nominate and select such excellent people from an outstanding group of candidates. Increasing the diversity of our Fellowship and the researchers we support is a major priority for the Academy. The highest quality biomedical science relies upon the brightest minds coming together from across a wide range of backgrounds. It is notable that this year’s new Fellows hail from every region of the UK, with the proportion being elected from outside London, Oxford and Cambridge increasing to 45%, up from 32% last year.
“This year we welcome the highest proportion of experts from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds ever elected to the Academy, at 17%. I look forward to the launch of our upcoming Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy which will contribute to the evolution of the Academy as a diverse, relevant and energetic organisation.
“It is of concern that we continue to receive significantly fewer nominations for women experts than men with the proportion of women elected to the Fellowship at 30%. There is a long way to go until the Fellowship reflects the diversity of our society and this year we will be doing more work to encourage nominations for women researchers and those who are racially diverse, as well as improving our data collection around disability and sexual orientation.”
The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy on Monday 27 June 2022.
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For more information please contact:
Gaby Richter, Media and News Officer, Academy of Medical Sciences
07944 023132, [email protected]
Notes for Editors
- The Academy of Medical Sciences is the independent body in the UK representing the diversity of medical science. Our elected Fellows are the UK’s leading medical scientists from hospitals, academia, industry and the public service. Our mission is to advance biomedical and health research and its translation into benefits for society. We are working to secure a future in which:
- UK and global health is improved by the best research.
- The UK leads the world in biomedical and health research, and is renowned for the quality of its research outputs, talent and collaborations.
- Independent, high quality medical science advice informs the decisions that affect society.
- More people have a say in the future of health and research.
Our work focusses on four key objectives: promoting excellence, developing talented researchers, influencing research and policy and engaging patients, the public and professionals.
- This year Fellows were chosen from 366 candidates. The eight Sectional Committees met in March to consider potential Fellows for 2022 entry to the Academy. Three nominators from within the Fellowship must back each candidate. The Academy Registrar, Professor Dame Jessica Corner FMedSci, Professor of Cancer & Supportive Care and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange) at the University of Nottingham, oversees the election. 124 candidates were shortlisted for peer review. The election brings the total number of Fellows to 1414.
- *Full list of Fellows elected in 2022
Professor Graham Anderson, Professor of Experimental Immunology, University of Birmingham
Professor Kenneth Baillie, Professor of Experimental Medicine, University of Edinburgh
Professor Imre Berger, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Bristol
Professor Michael Blackman, Principal Group Leader, The Francis Crick Institute
Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore FBA, Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
Professor Sebastian Brandner, Professor of Neuropathology, University College London
Professor Matthew Burton, Director of the International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Professor Siddharthan Chandran, MacDonald Professor of Neurology, University of Edinburgh
Dr Chun-Wa Chung, Senior Director, UK Head of Structural & Biophysical Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
Professor Matthew Costa, Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery, University of Oxford
Professor Cathy Creswell, Professor of Developmental Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford
Professor Nicola Curtin, Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics, Newcastle University
Professor Karen Duff, Centre Director, UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London
Professor Rodrigo Floto, Professor of Respiratory Biology, University of Cambridge
Professor Fiona Gilbert, Head of the Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge
Professor Anthony Gordon, Chair in Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Imperial College London
Professor Trevor Graham, Director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer, The Institute of Cancer Research, London
Professor Nicholas Grassly, Professor of Infectious Disease and Vaccine Epidemiology, Imperial College London
Professor Jonathan Green, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Manchester
Professor Bruce Guthrie, Professor of General Practice and Director, Advanced Care Research Centre, University of Edinburgh
Professor Petra Hajkova, Interim Director and Head of Epigenetics Section, Imperial College London
Professor George Hanna, Head of Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London
Professor Thomas Harrison, Professor of Infectious Diseases, St George's University
Professor Kristian Helin, CEO and President, The Institute of Cancer Research, London
Professor Neil Henderson, Professor of Tissue Repair and Regeneration, University of Edinburgh
Professor Robert Heyderman, Professor of Infectious Diseases & International Health, University College London
Professor Timothy Illidge, Professor of Targeted Therapy and Oncology, University of Manchester
Professor Samuel Janes, Professor of Respiratory Medicine, University College London
Professor David Jones, Pro Vice Chancellor (Education and Students), Queen's University Belfast
Professor Rajesh Kalaria, Professor of Cerebrovascular Pathology (Neuropathology), Newcastle University
Professor Colin Kleanthous, Iveagh Professor of Microbial Biochemistry, University of Oxford
Dr Stephen Lockhart, Vice President, Europe and Asia-Pacific Vaccine Clinical Research and Development, Pfizer
Professor Ronan Lyons OBE FLSW, Clinical Professor of Public Health, Swansea University
Professor Malcolm MacLeod, Professor of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh
Dr John Marioni, Senior Group Leader, EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)
Professor Andrew McIntosh, Professor of Biological Psychiatry, The University of Edinburgh
Professor Iain McNeish, Chair in Oncology; Head of Division of Cancer, Imperial College London
Professor Helen Minnis, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Glasgow
Professor Hugh Montgomery OBE, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University College London
Professor Jennifer Nichols, Professor of Embryonic Pluripotency, University of Edinburgh
Professor Richard Oreffo, Chair of Musculoskeletal Science, University of Southampton
Professor Susan Ozanne, Professor of Developmental Endocrinology, University of Cambridge
Professor Miles Parkes, Professor of Translational Gastroenterology and Director, Cambridge NIHR Biomedical Research Centre
Professor Dhavalkumar Patel, Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President, UCB Brussels
Professor Anna Philpott, Head of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge
Professor Guy Poppy CB, UKRI Director of the Transforming the UK food system programme, University of Southampton
Professor Mary Renfrew FRSE, Emeritus Professor of Mother & Infant Health, University of Dundee
Professor David Roberts, Medical Director for Pathology, University of Oxford
Professor Caroline Sabin, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, University College London
Professor David Savage, Professor of Molecular Metabolism, University of Cambridge
Dr Sjors Scheres FRS, Joint Head of Division and Programme Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Professor Shiranee Sriskandan, Professor of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College London
Professor Peter Stonier, Director of Specialty Training, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine
Professor Catherine Sudlow OBE, Professor of Neurology and Clinical Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh
Professor Nicholas Thomson, Group Leader, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Professor David Tollervey FRS FRSE, Professor of RNA Biology, University of Edinburgh
Professor Janet Treasure OBE, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Eating Disorders Unit, King's College London
Professor Russell Viner CBE, Professor of Adolescent Health, University College London
Professor Joanne Webster, Chair of Parasitic Diseases, Royal Veterinary College
Professor Rose Zamoyska, Professor of Immune Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh