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Oxford academics honoured by Royal Society

The Royal Society has elected six Oxford University academics as new Fellows. They are Professor Dorothy Bishop, Professor Marian Stamp Dawkins, Professor Liam Dolan, Professor Patrik Rorsman, Professor Rajesh Thakker and Professor Anthony Watts.

Professor Dorothy Bishop is Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology and a Wellcome Principal Research Fellow at the Department of Experimental Psychology in Oxford. The primary aim of her research is to increase our understanding of the nature and causes of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as specific language impairment, dyslexia and autistic spectrum disorder.

Professor Marian Stamp Dawkins is Professor of Animal Behaviour in the Department of Zoology and Emeritus Fellow in Biological Sciences at Somerville College, where she was previously Vice-Principal. Her research interests include animal welfare and behaviour, automated assessment of welfare, bird vision, signals in birds and fish, herd synchrony, and animal consciousness.

Professor Liam Dolan is Sherardian Professor of Botany at Oxford and Head of the Department of Plant Sciences. He is also Co-Director of the Plants for the 21st Century Institute at the Oxford Martin School. His primary research area is cellular development and evolution in land plants, the aim being to understand general principles of cell development and evolution using specialised rooting cells such as rhizoids and root hairs as models.

Professor Patrik Rorsman is Professor of Diabetic Medicine at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, and a Fellow and Tutor at Harris Manchester College. His research related to insulin secretion and aims to explain how changes in the plasma glucose concentration via islet cell electrical activity and increases in the cytoplasmic Ca2+-concentration regulate exocytotic release of insulin as well as glucagon and somatostatin. 

Professor Rajesh Thakker is May Professor of Medicine at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, and a consultant physician. He is also a Professorial Fellow at Somerville College and a Senior Fellow at Harris Manchester College. His research investigates the molecular basis of important endocrine and metabolic disorders that principally affect calcium and phosphate homeostasis.

Professor Anthony Watts is Professor of Marine Geology and Geophysics in the Department of Earth Sciences. He is a marine geologist and geophysicist who has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of the structure and evolution of the world’s ocean basins and their margins.