MRC scientists honoured in annual Royal Society Fellow election
Friday 18 May
The Royal Society has elected 44 distinguished scientists to join the ranks of its Fellows. Each researcher honoured has made a substantial contribution to the improvement of knowledge in mathematics, engineering science or medical science. Seven of this year’s new fellows have received support from the Medical Research Council or are active in research at an MRC institution.
A maximum of 44 new fellows from the fields of science, engineering and technology are elected to the Royal Society annually. An additional six foreign members (scientists who are not residents of a Commonwealth country or Ireland) are also elected.
List of new Royal Society Fellows in receipt of MRC funding:
Dr William Bradshaw Amos
Senior Research Scientist, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
Professor William Amos is distinguished for his role in the development of the confocal laser scanning electron microscope. Use of this instrument has facilitated considerable advances of understanding in fields ranging from cell biology, neurobiology and experimental pathology to materials science.
Professor Peter Barnes
Professor of Thoracic Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute and Head of Respiratory Medicine, Imperial College London
Professor Peter Barnes has made major contributions to the scientific understanding of asthma and chronic airway diseases. He is distinguished for proposing the novel concept that neurogenic inflammation contributes to airway diseases, for elucidating the neural mechanisms involved in airway control, and for mapping the distribution of autonomic receptors in the lungs.
Professor Barry John Everitt
Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge
Professor Barry Everitt is distinguished for research that has helped to introduce a new way of addressing the neural basis of motivated behaviour by linking learning theory with the methodology of systems neuroscience. He has defined the functional organization of the limbic-striatal circuitry that mediates Pavlovian and instrumental learning processes.
Professor Michael Henry Malim
Professor and Head, Department of Infectious Diseases, King's College London School of Medicine
Professor Michael Malim has made important contributions to our understanding of the molecular biology of HIV. His group identified a human anti-retrovirus gene product that is a potent suppressor of HIV infection. Recently, together with others, he discovered the mechanism whereby this gene product mediates its antiviral effect and in so doing identified therapeutic targets for the control of the disease.
Professor Edward Richard Moxon
Action Research Professor and Head of Department of Paediatrics, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford
Professor Richard Moxon is distinguished for his work in bacterial genetics, the identity of vaccine candidates, and for pioneering important vaccine programmes. He carried out seminal studies on the biosynthesis, transport and assembly of the type b capsule antigen of Haemophilus influenzae, established it as a vaccine candidate, introduced type b conjugate vaccine into the UK and organised safety and pilot trials leading to a successful vaccine programme.
Professor Daniela Rhodes
Research Scientist/Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
Professor Daniela Rhodes has made many fundamental contributions to our understanding of nucleic acid structure and function. She contributed to the elucidation of the structure of chromatin, and of telomeres, and assisted in evaluating the basis of zinc finger protein-DNA recognition.
Professor Veronica Van Heyningen
Head of Medical and Developmental Genetics Section, MRC Human Genetics Unit, Edinburgh
Professor Veronica van Heyningen's is distinguished for her research on phenotypes and genotypes in both man and mouse. She has dissected relevant genotypes at the level of chromosomes, DNA sequences and the immunological detection of proteins. Her persistence has greatly clarified the mechanism of a malformation of the eye and a tumour of the kidney.
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