Academy of Medical Sciences honours seven Oxford researchers

Professors Barbara Casadei, Michael English, Russell Foster, Keith Hawton, Paul Klenerman, Xin Lu and Lionel Tarassenko are among the 44 new Fellows announced today by the Academy.

The honour recognises outstanding contributions to the advancement of medical science, innovative application of scientific knowledge, or conspicuous service to healthcare.

Professor Sir John Tooke, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences said: 'The Academy of Medical Sciences exists to promote the best of medical science for the benefit of society. Our new Fellows are recognised for their exceptional contribution and collectively represent the array of talent present in the UK medical science community. They will further strengthen the Academy and I look forward to working with them over the coming years.'

The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony on Wednesday 26 June 2013.

Barbara Casadei is British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. Her research aims to understand the mechanisms underlying atrial fibrillation and to identify new therapeutic targets for the prevention and treatment of this arrhythmia. Professor Casadei’s programme has strong focus on patient-based research comprising mechanistic studies in human atrial myocytes, prospective investigations in cohorts of patients, and clinical trials.

Michael English is Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Clinical Science at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KMRI) and Professor of International Child Health at the Nuffield Department of Medicine. His work has included developing national, evidence-based guidelines for care of severely ill children and newborns and long-term studies on initiating and establishing best practices within rural government hospitals. He also provides advice to the Kenyan government and works with the World Health Organisation on a range of issues related to child and newborn survival.

Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology, where his research spans visual and circadian neurobiology, focusing on the mechanisms whereby light regulates vertebrate circadian rhythms. He has been internationally recognised for his discovery of non-rod, non-cone ocular photoreceptors. In collaboration with the Oxford Eye Hospital, his research group is exploring the impact of retinal disease on sleep and circadian rhythm disruption.

Keith Hawton is Professor of Psychiatry, Consultant Psychiatrist and Director of the Centre for Suicide Research. His research focuses on suicide and self-harm, using epidemiological and interview approaches to examine long-term trends, find causes and develop effective treatment and prevention measures. His research has resulted in  treatment and prevention initiatives that have shown to have major benefits in reducing risk of further self-harm and preventing suicide.

Paul Klenerman is Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Clinical Science at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, where his research aims to understand T cell responses to viruses, especially hepatitis C virus and HIV. His research group aims to produce better new vaccines against HCV for prevention and treatment of disease by applying their understanding of the role of host immune responses in determining the outcome of viral infections. They have also established a Translational Immunology lab at the John Radcliffe Hospital to try and bring some of these techniques closer to patients.

Xin Lu is Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Professor of Cancer Biology at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, where her research looks to identify molecular mechanisms that suppress tumour growth and metastasis. Her discovery of the ASPP family of proteins connects cell polarity, cell proliferation and cell death to development and tumour suppression. Her group focuses on the understanding of how to selectively kill cancer cells by studying the role of ASPP proteins in tumour suppression pathways with the aim of identifying therapeutic targets.

Lionel Tarassenko is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Department of Engineering Science. He is an expert in the application of signal processing to medical systems, with a strong track record in translation to clinical medicine. He has been a pioneer in developing early warning systems for identifying physiological deterioration in hospital patients. He is also known for developing 3G mobile technology for the management of long-term conditions such as diabetes.