We are very pleased to announce that Lister Fellow and Professor of Human Genetics at the MRC Human Genetics Unit, University of Edinburgh, Andrew Jackson has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Professor Jackson is an expert in human genetic diseases and researches how they can help us learn more about fundamental biological mechanisms.
He is well known in the field for his investigations into Ribonuclease H2. Mutations in this enzyme can cause an inflammatory disorder that mimics congenital viral infection.Professor Jackson’s work has shown that it is this enzyme’s substrates that are the most common error in the mammalian genome and innate immune response within cells is triggered by ruptured micronuclei.
In his distinguished career Professor Jackson has he obtained a PhD in molecular genetics from Leeds University. He has also been named as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and is also an EMBO member, as well as a Lister Fellow.
We are very pleased to hear about Professor Jackson’s important new election to this highly distinguished body and honoured to have played a small role in supporting the career that has led him to achieve it.The Royal Society is a very well-known and highly selective independent scientific academy with a long heritage. It can trace its origin back to 1660 when members of the so-called ‘invisible college’ (an eclectic group of physicians, scientists and natural philosophers) held a meeting widely considered to be the beginning of the Royal Society in November of that year.
The meeting was preceded by a lecture at Gresham College held by Christopher Wren (the well-known architect, astronomer and polymath) and featured other academics who would go on to make significant contributions to scientific knowledge such as Robert Boyle and John Wilkins. Royal charters were signed in 1662 and 1663 to more firmly establish the organisation, and every British monarch has served as patron of the Society since that time.
Today the Royal Society is thought of as one of the foremost professional research bodies in the world. Its organisational aims are to promote excellence in science, support international collaboration and demonstrate the importance of science to all of society.
The Lister Institute has a long-running relationship with the Royal Society and many of our fellows and members are associated with the organisation. We are very honoured to have played a role in supporting the work of one of the Society’s most recent elected Fellows in Professor Jackson and are looking forward to hearing more about the impact he will have as part of the prestigious organisation.
