Lister community members awarded prestigious new fellowships

A number of current and former members of the Lister community have been made fellows of leading scientific societies the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences during May and June. We congratulate each of them on their achievements!

In addition, we congratulate our former Chair of the Scientific Committee Professor Patrick Maxwell, who led the Committee between 2010 and 2017. He was awarded a CBE last month in the King’s Honours List for services to medical research.

New Fellows of the Royal Society

Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald FMedSci FRS

Rebecca is a member of the Lister Institute’s Governing Body and a former Lister Fellow 2008-2013. She is a clinician scientist, combining research on oesophageal cancer with treating patients. She is known for her CytoSponge diagnostic device, which helps detect Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition which can progress to cancer. She is Professor of Cancer Prevention and Director, Early Cancer Institute, University of Cambridge.

“I am honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society – this endorsement of my work to understand the evolution of cancer and detect it earlier at a curable stage is a great boost to my own research and I hope it will also spur other work on this important topic.”

Professor David Komander FRS

David was a Lister Fellow from 2012 to 2018 and is also a member of the Lister Institute. His research interest is the body’s ubiquitin system and how it plays a role in health. His discoveries have helped scientists understand ubiquitin’s involvement in inflammation and autoinflammatory disorders, as well as in Parkinson’s Disease. He is Head of Ubiquitin Signalling Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), and a Professor in the Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Australia.

“It is an incredible honour to be elected Fellow the Royal Society. To be in the company of those great scientists is just extremely humbling, and I am very grateful to my mentors, supporters, and colleagues over the years. I look forward to the Admissions Ceremony in July, which I understand is a very special event.”

New Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences

Dr G. Marius Clore FMedSci FRS

Marius was a Lister Fellow from 1982-1984. He specialises in biological and physical chemistry, biophysics, and structural biology. He is known for his work with NMR spectroscopy, which he used to determine the three-dimensional structure of proteins, nucleic acids and other biological phenomena. He is NIH Distinguished Investigator and Chief of the Section of Molecular and Structural Biophysics, Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA.

“It is indeed a great honour to have been elected a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences. This is especially so since I haven’t been a resident of the UK for over 35 years.”

Professor Michael Eddleston

Michael was a Lister Fellow from 2011 to 2016 and is also a member of the Institute. His work in toxicology and clinical pharmacology helps to prevent harm from pesticide poisoning, especially in the context of suicide prevention. He is Personal Chair of Clinical Toxicology at the University of Edinburgh.

“I am very honoured to have received this award – in particular, the recognition it gives to the field of clinical toxicology. I look forward to continuing our work to prevent deaths from acute poisoning, with colleagues here in the UK and across the globe.”

Professor Jane McKeating FMedSci

Jane was a Lister Fellow between 1994 and 1999. Her research area is the role of glycoproteins in viral immunogenicity and pathogenicity with a focus on HIV and hepatitis. She is Professor of Molecular Virology at the Nuffield Department of Medicine and CAMS Oxford Institute Principal Investigator.

“I am very grateful to the Academy and to all the brilliant researchers I have worked with over the years who have contributed to this recognition”