The College of Medical and Dental Sciences is delighted to announce that at the University of Birmingham Founders’ Awards for Excellence 2019, colleagues from across the College were awarded three of the evening’s four awards.
The Founders’ Awards, which were held on Thursday 18 July during the Chancellor's Dinner, are named after some of Birmingham’s most influential benefactors and demonstrate that their vision of ground-breaking research with local, national and global impact is as alive today as it was when the University was founded in 1900.
The awards recognise the very best academic work that has significantly contributed to the advancement of the University’s reputation. Nominations were received from each of the University’s College Boards and were reviewed by a panel of judges consisting of senior members of University management and colleagues external to the institution.
The Joseph Chamberlain Award for Academic Advancement
Named after the man who was the driving force behind the establishment of the University and was its first Chancellor, this was awarded to Professor Peter Brocklehurst of the Institute of Applied Health Research, Director of the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit (BCTU).
It was also awarded to Professor Richard Butler of the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences.
The award, which recognises academic activity that has significantly advanced the discourse or understanding within a specific academic area, was presented to Professor Brocklehurst for his leadership of the BCTU and for his personal research into women's health.
The Charles Beale Award for Policy Advancement
This award, which remembers the man who was a close political ally of Joseph Chamberlain and the University’s first Vice-Chancellor, was presented to Professor Laura Piddock of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection.
The award recognises academic activity that has significantly advanced the discourse or understanding within a specific academic or policy area. Professor Piddock is leading research into antimicrobial resistance and is currently working on secondment at the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, an initiative of the World Health Organization.
The Josiah Mason Award for Business Advancement
Named after the industrialist and philanthropist, and the founder of Mason Science College that preceded the University, this was awarded to Professor Philip Newsome of the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, Director of the Centre for Liver and Gastrointestinal Research and Director of the Midlands & Wales Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre.
This award recognises academic activity that has had a major impact within a business sector or a specific industry. Professor Newsome has been recognised for his work into cellular therapies and in leading a team to develop the £7.3m Midlands & Wales Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre, which includes eight different companies.
The fourth award, the Aston Webb award for Early Career Academic, was awarded to Dr Rachel Humphris from the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology in the College of Social Sciences.
Congratulations also go to the College’s Professor Charles Craddock, who was shortlisted for the Josiah Mason Award for Business Advancement, and Dr Rebecca Drummond, who was shortlisted for the Aston Webb Award for Outstanding Early-Career Academic.