Fellows elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences

Left-right: Graham Lord, Kinya Otsu and Tim Spector

Three academics from the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine are among the 47 new Fellows elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences: Professor Graham Lord from the Division of Transplantation Immunology & Mucosal Biology, Professor Kinya Otsu from the Cardiovascular Division and Professor Tim Spector from the Centre of Twin Research in the Division of Genetics & Molecular Medicine.

The Fellows have been elected for their contribution to medical research and healthcare, the generation of new knowledge in medical sciences and its translation into benefits to society.

Professor Lord’s research interests are around the control of gene expression in T cells and denditric cells with relevance to infectious and autoimmune diseases. His research team also study the genetic variation in donor and recipient genomes that influence the outcomes of organ transplantation.

Professor Otsu’s research aims to integrate physiological, biochemical, cell biological, molecular and genetic approaches to study the pathogenesis of heart failure.

Professor Tim Spector uses the UK twins registry (TWINSUK) of 10,000 twins to pursue gene discovery in the common complex traits and diseases via genetic epidemiology. His other work focuses on omics and the microbiome and directs the crowdfunded British Gut microbiome project.

Professor Sir Robert Lechler PMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences said:

"These new Fellows represent the amazing diversity of talent and expertise among the UK medical research community. Through their election to the Fellowship, we recognise the outstanding contributions these individuals have made to the progress of medical science and the development of better healthcare.

Thanks to the experience and expertise of its Fellows, the Academy can play a crucial role in addressing the great medical challenges of our time, such as maintaining health in an ageing population, the spread of non-communicable diseases and multiple morbidities.

"We work with our Fellowship to create the essential connections between academia, industry and the NHS and beyond, to strengthen biomedical research and facilitate its translation into benefits for society. 

We are delighted to welcome this year’s new Fellows to the Academy and I look forward to working with them all in the future."

The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony on the 29 June 2016.