Three LMB scientists, Anne Bertolotti, Ramanujan Hegde and KJ Patel have been named as newly elected members to the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).
EMBO elects new members annually on the basis of scientific excellence and outstanding research contributions. The newly elected members join 1500 of the best researchers from Europe and around the world.
Today, the new LMB building in Cambridge was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen. Accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, they arrived on the guided bus and were greeted outside by local primary school children before being welcomed inside by staff and invited guests.
As the Royal party entered the spacious central atrium they got their first glimpse of the interior of the magnificent building, which was completed to budget and only a few weeks behind schedule.
KJ Patel, group leader in the LMB’s Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry Division, has been elected into the Fellowship of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.
The Academy promotes the translation of advances in medical science into benefits for patients and the population at large. Academy Fellows are elected based on excellence in medical research, for innovative application of scientific knowledge or for their service to healthcare.
Dr Michael Neuberger, group leader in the LMB’s Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry, has been elected as a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Sciences was created to provide independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers as members and foreign associates in recognition of their distinguished and outstanding contributions to research.
On the 25th April 1953, Francis Crick and Jim Watson published their groundbreaking paper in Nature, in which they revealed to the world the double helical structure of DNA.
Francis and Jim were working in the MRC Unit for the Study of the Molecular Structure of Biological Systems (now the LMB), housed in the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University.
This year’s Max Perutz lecture on “Five ways for viruses to enter the animal cell” will be given by Ari Helenius. The lecture takes place on 30 April at 2.30pm in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre at the LMB and is open to all interested in attending.
Since 1997 Ari Helenius has been Full Professor of Biochemistry in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich where he heads several interdisciplinary projects in the field of protein folding and virus-cell interaction.
The world premiere of a piece of music inspired by human genetic variation will be the centrepiece of the 3rd biennial Royal Greenwich String Quartet Festival on Saturday 13 April. Produced by award-winning composer Deirdre Gribbin, during her period as Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the LMB, it is also the subject of discussion on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on 11 April, 10am, and a BBC World Service interview.
The LMB is presenting a wide range of public engagement events and activities throughout 2013 to celebrate the move to its new building and the MRC Centenary.
Over a dozen scientists and staff from the LMB volunteered to take part in the first two days of the Big Bang show at ExCeL London (14-15 March). The event attracted tens of thousands of schoolchildren and teachers – many of whom visited the LMB’s special Virus Wars exhibit.
Sir Gregory Winter, from the LMB’s PNAC Division and a former Deputy Director of the LMB, has been awarded a 2013 Canada Gairdner International Award – one of the world’s most important medical research prizes.
Greg won the Award: “For the engineering of humanized monoclonal antibodies and their widespread use in medical therapy, particularly for treatment of cancer and immune disorders”. The Awards also recognize scientists whose work holds important potential.
LMB scientists, M. Madan Babu, Harvey McMahon, Melina Schuh and John Burke, have all been honoured with awards from the Biochemical Society, the UK’s largest discipline based learned society in the biosciences.
M. Madan Babu
Madan, a group leader in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, has been awarded the prestigious 2014 Colworth Medal. The medal is awarded annually to a biochemist under the age of 35 for outstanding research achievement.