MRC congratulates new Royal Society Fellows
23 May 2006
The Royal Society has announced that forty-four scientists, across all fields and from all over the world, are to join its ranks. Of these, a number belong to the wider MRC family and we would like to take the opportunity to congratulate them on their achievement.
Professor David Barford, who previously held MRC grants, is Professor of Molecular Biology at the Institute of Cancer Research and has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the control of cellular processes by protein phosphorylation. He determined the first structures of all three major types of protein phosphatases.
Professor Stephen Barnett, who currently holds an MRC grant is Professor of Quantum Optics at the University of Strathclyde and is distinguished for his contributions to theoretical quantum optics and electrodynamics. His more recent work has produced fundamental advances in the development of strategies for the secure transfer and retrieval of quantum-optical information.
Professor Valerie Beral of the University of Oxford, who currently holds an MRC grant, was elected for her epidemiological research over 30 years which has led to the discoveries of some causes of cancers and clarified the role of hormonal factors in breast cancer. Her work has also suggested that cervical cancer and Kaposi’s sarcoma were infectious diseases before the relevant viruses were identified.
Professor Peter James Donnelly, who currently holds an MRC grant, is Professor of Statistical Science at the University of Oxford and has made fundamental contributions in population genetics and other areas of probability and statistics that are both theoretical and practical. His work on the interpretation of DNA forensic evidence has highlighted conceptual misunderstandings and has changed standard practice.
Dr Matthew John Aylmer Freeman is a member of the Scientific Staff at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and has studied the regulation of intercellular signalling, mainly in Drosophila. He showed, in the eye, that repeated signalling through the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is used to determine all retinal cell fates; this model has become a paradigm for induction by receptor tyrosine kinases.
Professor Richard James Jackson, who previously held MRC grants, is Professor of RNA Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, is distinguished for his contributions to understanding the mechanism and regulation of initiation of eukaryotic messenger RNA translation. He co-discovered the regulation of translation initiation via phosphorylation of a translation initiation factor.
Professor Austin Gerard Smith, is MRC Professor at the Institute for Stem Cell Research at the University of Edinburgh and Chair of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology at the University of Cambridge. He has carried out ground breaking work on the mechanisms of self-renewal and lineage commitment in mammalian pluripotent embryonic stem cells.
