Prestigious awards for UCL neuroscientists

Four UCL neuroscientists have been recently honoured by scientific and medical research bodies for their contributions to the field. 

Professor Neil Burgess (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience) and Professor Andrew Lees (Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies) have been elected to the fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Fellowship of the Academy is based on exceptional contributions to the medical sciences either in the form of original discovery or of sustained contributions to scholarship. Professors Burgess and Lees will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony on 24 June.

Professor David Miller (UCL Institute of Neurology) has been awarded the John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research, sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology and National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which recognises outstanding contributions to research in the understanding, treatment, or prevention of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Professor Miller was commended for his pioneering treatment of MS through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He has also authored four textbooks and 450 original peer-reviewed papers, and has served on the editorial boards of numerous neurology journals.

Dr Helen Ling (Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies) has won the International Movement Disorder Society's 2009 Junior Award for excellence in clinical research.

This is in recognition of her outstanding and innovative research regarding diagnostic accuracy in 18 cases of pathologically confirmed corticobasal degeneration, a progressive neurological disorder characterised by nerve cell loss and atrophy of multiple areas of the brain. 

UCL Context

UCL Neuroscience brings together over 400 senior investigators who conduct world-leading research in molecular, developmental, cellular, cognitive, computational, and clinical neuroscience. The inter-disciplinary department has a particular strength in translating its research into new ways of diagnosing and treating disease through its partnerships with three large comprehensive and specialist biomedical centres.

UCL Neuroscience researchers generate over 30% of the UK's contribution to the most highly-cited publications in neuroscience, more than twice as much as any other university. In neuroimaging and clinical neurology, UCL produces 65% and 44% of the UK's contribution to the world's most highly-cited papers, five-fold larger than that of the next highest UK institution.