Dave-Hodson
Professor David Hodson

Professor David Hodson, Professor of Cellular Metabolism within the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, has been awarded the prestigious Fellowship by Meritorious Contributions to Knowledge from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

Professor Hodson, who joined the University of Birmingham in 2016 as a Birmingham Fellow from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, researches the causes of diabetes, specifically why insulin secretion from beta cells declines during the disease.

Speaking about the Fellowship Professor Hodson said: “The Fellowship will help me to encourage veterinarians, who are massively under-represented in basic research, to consider a career in academia. I will use this award to further increase the reputation of our work on diabetes, as well as engage more with the veterinary profession.”

Professor Hodson completed a degree in Veterinary Science before undertaking doctoral studies with Dr Domingo Tortonese in reproductive physiology and circadian biology at the University of Bristol.

In 2008, he moved to the laboratory of Dr Patrice Mollard at the Institut de Genomique Fonctionnelle in Montpellier, France, where he pursued postdoctoral studies focused on understanding how endocrine cells residing within the mammalian pituitary gland function as three-dimensional networks to generate hormone release in response to demand.

Professor Hodson was officially welcomed as an RCVS Fellow at the third annual Fellowship Day, held at the Royal Institution on Friday 5 October. The event saw 33 veterinary surgeons being officially welcomed as Fellows of the RCVS of whom eight were recognised for meritorious contributions to knowledge.