Prof Stephen Jackson, of the Gurdon Institute and Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, won the Royal Society Mullard Award for his research which led to the development of blockbuster ovarian and breast cancer drug olaparib.
Prof Steve Jackson, of the Wellcome / Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute Meanwhile, the society’s Michael Faraday Prize was awarded to the university’s Sir David Spiegelhalter, of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication and Churchill College, for vividly bringing home key insights from the disciplines of statistics and probability to the public and key decision-makers in entertaining and accessible ways, most recently during the Covid-19 pandemic. The £40,000 STEM project grant that forms part of her award will produce resources for Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14) maths pupils and teachers exploring the curriculum in the context of modelling epidemics and infectious diseases and showing how maths can change the world for the better. Her expertise in infectious diseases and virus modelling have contributed to the pandemic response, including as a participant at SAGE meetings. The University of Cambridge’s Prof Julia Gog, of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and Queens’ College, received the Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture for her achievements in the field of mathematics. Prof Julia Gog, of the University of Cambridge, receives the Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture He returned to the LMB in 2010 and is now an emeritus scientist. Following a stint at Imperial College, London, he became Herchel Smith professor of organic chemistry at the University of Cambridge, and simultaneously headed the MRC Centre for Protein Engineering from 1988 to 2010. Sir Alan was at the MRC Laboratoty of Molecular Biology from 1968 to 1977, as a member of scientific staff and a group leader. He joins Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Dorothy Hodgkin in winning the medal. His work has helped to describe protein folding pathways at atomic resolution, revolutionising our understanding of these processes. If people like me are seen to be honoured for science, then I hope it will encourage young people in similar situations to take up science.” Like many Copley medallists, I hail from a humble immigrant background and the first of my family to go to university. Recognition of one’s work, especially at home, is icing on the cake. Sir Alan, of the Department of Chemistry, and Gonville & Caius College, a leading pioneer in protein engineering, said: “Most of us who become scientists do so because science is one of the most rewarding and satisfying of careers and we actually get paid for doing what we enjoy and for our benefitting humankind.
Picture: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (40073503)
He was one of 10 Cambridge scientists who were among 25 awarded with Royal Society medals and awards this week. Sir Alan Fersht, of the University of Cambridge, has won the world’s oldest scientific prize, the Royal Society’s Copley Medal.