Lister Fellows elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences

We are very pleased to report that Lister Fellows Peter Cullen and Muzlifah Haniffa have been elected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

The Academy of Medical Sciences is an independent UK body that aims to support and represent the diversity of medical science.

Fellows are chosen based on their “exceptional contributions to advancing biomedical science via world-leading research discoveries, running national science communication and engagement programmes and translating scientific advances into benefits for patients and the public.”

Professor Haniffa leads the skin and oral disease theme within the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre.

She pioneered the application of single cell genomics for the use of mapping the developing and adult human immune systems in healthy and diseased tissues.

Professor Haniffa has also made several fundamental basic science discoveries for clinical applications and is a leading figure in the global Human Cell Atlas initiative, which is currently looking at looking at why coronavirus affects individual people so differently. Reflecting on her new elected position professor Haniffa said:

“I feel honoured and humbled to have been elected to the prestigious Academy of Medical Sciences.”

“The election was made possible by the fantastic support I have received from Newcastle University and Newcastle Hospitals, past and present members of my team, our amazing collaborators around the world, and the Wellcome Trust and Lister Institute.”

You can find out more about professor Haniffa’s work here.

Peter J. Cullen is Professor of Biochemistry and Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator School of Biochemistry in the University of Bristol. He is also Director of the Wellcome Trust Dynamic Molecular Cell Biology 4-Year Ph.D. Programme at the university.

His research involves the use of quantitative proteomics to better understand the endosomal network – a series of interconnected membrane bound compartments that in regulating the sorting and signaling of proteinaceous cargoes including receptors, transporters and adhesion molecules, orchestrates and fine-tunes numerous cellular processes.

You can find out more about this work here.

We are very pleased to hear about the election of Muzlifah Haniffa and Peter Cullen, and are proud to have previously played a role in supporting some of the research that has led to this appointment.