Two esteemed former Lister Fellows receive New Year Honours

Our congratulations to Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz and Professor Daniel Davis who have both been honoured for their achievements and service to science in the UK.

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz

It’s odd to learn about such a great honour in such a mundane way: an inconspicuous HM Government envelope amidst the in-tray correspondence.

But this is exactly how it was for Leszek Borysiewicz, known as Borys among friends and the Lister community. “I was surprised when the letter arrived in December, thinking it was related to my new role as Chair of Diamond Light Source,” he admits.

Indeed, this latest appointment to oversee another of the UK’s most prestigious research facilities epitomises why Borys has been recognised with one of the highest honours: Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (this year sitting alongside top children’s author Jaqueline Wilson). His service and contribution to cancer research, clinical research, medicine and charities have been outstanding.

The award reflects as much on the wonderful people I have worked with at Cancer Research UK, MRC, University of Cambridge, and Imperial. I remain deeply indebted to the Lister Institute for the support it gave me when setting off on a research career and the many it has supported before and since. The privilege of being part of the Lister community is something that I particularly treasure and am looking forward to our next meeting!

Borys says his Lister Fellowship (1983-1987) allowed him to pursue his personal interest in the immune evasion of cytomegalovirus – research that underpinned later work on human papilloma virus and development of HPV vaccines. But even in these early years, Borys began to realise that daily decisions about research were shaped by systems and policies. Through all his eminent leadership positions, including vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, chief executive at MRC and chairman of Cancer Research UK, his drive has been to create enabling team environments for excellent science.

Learn more about how the Lister Fellowship shaped Borys’s career in our 125th Anniversary publication.

Professor Daniel Davis

Immunologist Daniel Davis received an MBE in recognition of his services to science communication. He’s a regular speaker at science and music festivals as well as the author of popular science books including The Compatibility Gene (longlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize) and The Beautiful Cure (shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize, now translated into 15 languages).

Dan’s Lister Prize Fellowship (2005-2010) helped his research group tease out the mechanism by which natural killer (NK) cells distinguish between healthy and diseased cells in humans. They even videoed the NK activation using high speed microscopy imaging.

Like all Lister Fellows, Dan is also incredibly conscious that research is a team sport. “A huge number of people have helped me in this, and I thank you all, deeply – everyone who has been in my research team, guiding my thinking over many years, and countless other scientists who have shaped my research and life in general.”

I am also genuinely hugely grateful to the Lister Institute whose help had a profound influence on my career early on, especially because the Institute helped me gain time for various things beyond teaching and research, including science communication. When I started, immunology was not really a big topic in public discussion. But things have changed, and the immune system is a frontier of science whose time has come. By writing and talking about its wonders and its importance, I hope that I have done something useful and meaningful.

Read our review of The Compatibility Gene.

Heartfelt congratulations to both Borys and Dan, the Lister community is immensely proud of your achievements and ongoing contribution to science. We look forward to more!