Services to cancer research, nature, and public engagement in geology and palaeontology recognised
Aerial view of campus
A world-recognised expert in children’s cancer research, a student inspiring a new generation to consider conservation in urban areas, and a field geologist active in UK palaeontology are among award recipients in His Majesty the King’s Birthday Honours for 2026.
Emeritus Professor Pamela Kearns OBE, Dr Neville Hollingworth OBE, and Kabir Kaul BEM are among those from the University of Birmingham who have been named in the latest honours, in recognition of their contribution to services which have improved society across the UK.
Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Birmingham, said: “I am delighted that our staff and students continue to be recognised for their contributions to society in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours. Our staff, students and alumni are making a difference through their work and voluntary service, and each recipient is richly deserving of this recognition.”
Our staff, students and alumni are making a difference through their work and voluntary service, and each recipient is richly deserving of this recognition
Professor Pamela Kearns has been awarded an OBE for services to cancer research, in recognition of her career as a cancer researcher and foremost expert in children’s cancer. Professor Kearns has led global trials focused on childhood acute lymphomas and leukaemias.
Professor Kearns was elected President of the European not-for-profit consortium Innovative Therapeutics in Childhood Cancer and is a Founding Board member of the multistakeholder platform ACCELERATE, promoting drug development for cancer in children and young people. She was President of the European Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE) from 2019 -2021 and served in the SIOPE Board until December 2024.
In the UK, Professor Kearns chairs IMPACCT (Initiative for Multi-stakeholder Partnership to Accelerate Children’s Cancer Trials), a national initiative seeking to improve UK trial delivery for young patients with cancer. In addition, she chairs the Research Assessment Panel for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and serves on the NIHR Invention for Innovation Product Development Awards Selection Committee.
Professor Kearns is Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees for Cancer Research UK and Chair of the Board of Trustees for A Child of Mine, a charity dedicated to supporting bereaved parents. She is a Scientific Advisor to Children with Cancer UK and a Trusted Advisor to The Little Princess Trust.
Professor Pamela Kearns, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Paediatric Oncology at the University of Birmingham, said: “I am deeply honoured and humbled to receive an OBE for services to cancer research. Progress on cancer research pivots on team- work, particularly in rare diseases like childhood cancers, where collaborative research has been fundamental to advances. This honour is a wonderful recognition of the collective effort of the many amazing national and international colleagues with whom I have had the privilege to work.
“Advances in cancer treatment rely on high-quality clinical research, and I thank the teams at the University of Birmingham’s Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit, the European childhood cancer clinical trials network ITCC and the UK IMPACCT initiative for their vital contributions to delivering outstanding clinical trials in the UK and internationally.
“Cancer remains the leading cause of death in children and young people, making the development of better treatments an urgent priority. I have been continually inspired by the patients and families that I have met throughout my career, and I dedicate this honour to them.”
Kabir Kaul has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to nature. Kaul is a BA Geography student at the University of Birmingham and an active conservationist who focuses on urban wildlife, particularly in his home city of London.
Kabir has received numerous awards in recognition of his conservation efforts, including a Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award, Youth Conservation Award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and has been named a Big Issue Top 100 changemaker and a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Linnean Society.
Kabir Kaul said: “I am deeply honoured to receive a British Empire Medal for my conservation work; to be honest, the news is still sinking in! I remain incredibly grateful to the University of Birmingham for its encouragement and support of my passion for nature so far.
“I've been involved in campaigning for urban nature for the past eight years. In the past two years, gaining a deeper and more holistic understanding of urban nature through a geographical lens, and learning to think much more critically, have significantly developed how I approach my own work.”
Dr Neville Hollingworth has been awarded an OBE for services to Public Engagement and Accessibility in Geology and Palaeontology. Dr Hollingworth is a field geologist, an honorary research associate at the University of Birmingham and has made a number of significant fossil discoveries across the UK.
The University of Birmingham receives regular recognition for the outstanding contributions of its staff, students and alumni to society. National awards from the monarch are made through the New Year’s Honours and Birthday Honours; as well as professional recognition from national academies including the Royal Society and British Academy; and sector awards such as those from Times Higher Education and Advance HE.
For more information, please contact the University of Birmingham press office on pressoffice@contacts.bham.ac.uk or +44 (0) 121 414 2772.
Emeritus Professor of Clinical Paediatric Oncology
Staff profile of Professor Pamela Kearns, Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU), College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham
Honorary Research Associate
Dr Neville Hollingworth
