MyGlasgow News

Professor Andrew Baker, Director of the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, has been awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award.

The Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, has appointed seven new award holders.

Professor Baker received the prestigious appointment for developing a novel virus for human gene therapy. 

Jointly funded by the Wolfson Foundation and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the scheme aims to provide universities with additional support to enable them to attract to this country or to retain respected scientists of outstanding achievement and potential.

Professor Baker said: ‘I am delighted to be have been selected as a recipient of this award. It is a great honour. This award will allow me to further develop my research agenda using novel viruses as vectors for human gene therapy.’

Other newly appointed award holders are working on a wide variety of projects including the evolutionary aspects of sex and the role of genetics in type 2 diabetes.

The scientists will have taken up their awards at institutions across the UK by 1 May.

Other appointments include: 

• Professor Mark Cannell, University of Bristol,
  Computing and seeing a new solution to problems in the heart
• Professor David Haddleton, University of Warwick,
  Controlled polymerisation to new materials: Polymer therapeutics to oil recovery
• Professor Andrew Mackenzie, University of St Andrews,
  Creating, understanding and exploiting novel quantum order in oxides
• Professor Alfred Rutherford, Imperial College London,
  Biological and artificial water photolysis
• Professor Guy Rutter, Imperial College London,
  Dissecting the actions of T2D susceptibility genes on insulin secretion
• Professor Nina Wedell, University of Exeter,
  Genomic conflict: sexual antagonism and selfish genetic elements

The Wolfson Foundation is a grant-making charity established in 1955. Funding is given to support excellence.

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First published: 3 May 2011