UCL academics elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences

The UCL academics selected to join the academy’s fellowship are:

Professor Anna David (Director, UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health, and consultant in obstetrics and maternal/fetal medicine at UCLH). Professor David is a pioneer in prenatal therapy research, leading the team who performed the first fetal surgery for spina bifida in the UK in 2018. Her team at UCL are developing new treatments for fetal growth restriction using maternal gene therapy. She conceived and launched MFAET, the first comprehensive system to define and grade maternal and fetal adverse events to improve safety for clinical trials in pregnant people. 

Professor Christina Pagel (UCL Clinical Operational Research Unit). Professor Pagel applies operational research, data analysis and mathematical modelling to topics in healthcare to improve patient outcomes and delivery of health care. She currently leads projects across a range of areas from improving outcomes in intensive care, to understanding lifetime use of health services for people living with congenital heart disease, to improving services for children with complex health needs. From 2017 to 2022 she was Director of the UCL Clinical Operational Research Unit and is current Vice President of the UK Operational Research Society (2022-2028). She is also a sought-after public communicator of science and policy, particularly as a member of Independent SAGE, a group of scientists that provided accessible updates about the Covid-19 pandemic to the public.

Professor Rickie Patani (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the Francis Crick Institute). Professor Patani’s lab studies diseases of the nervous system, focusing on motor neuron disease (ALS). The team uses human stem cells to uncover the earliest disease mechanisms. The aim, for ALS, is to identify precisely what goes wrong, when this begins and in which cell type. Researchers focus on how abnormalities in RNA splicing lead to aberrant RNA-protein interactions to cause ALS and how glial cells of the brain – known as astrocytes – conspire with motor neurons to cause ALS.

Professor Jonathan Schott (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology). Professor Schott’s research focuses on how clinical assessment, brain imaging, and markers of disease can be combined to help spot the early signs of diseases like Alzheimer’s in the brain before dementia symptoms show. He is Chief Medical Officer for Alzheimer’s Research UK, Europe’s largest dementia research charity, and honorary consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square.

Professor Roz Shafran (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health).  A clinical psychologist, Emeritus Professor Shafran is particularly known for her research on the development and evaluation of cognitive behaviour therapy for perfectionism and mental health disorders. At UCL she has sought to improve access to effective psychological therapies for young people with chronic illness, and to understand paediatric Long COVID. In addition to research publications, Professor Shafran has co-authored and co-edited four self-help books, the most recent being How to Cope When Your Child Can't: Comfort, help and hope for parents.

Professor Danail Stoyanov (UCL Computer Science and UCL Hawkes Institute). Professor Stoyanov’s research is focused on developing surgical robotics and artificial intelligence for improving minimally invasive interventions. He is currently leading a £17 million surgical imaging hub, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), aiming to detect early signs of cancer by listening for soundwaves using optical tools.

Professor Gregory Towers (UCL Division of Infection & Immunity). Professor Towers’s lab aims to understand the molecular details of host virus interactions particularly with respect to innate immunity. In particular, the lab’s research focuses on parts of the immune system that specifically target viruses and protect the host – called restriction factors. Viruses investigated have ranged from HIV to SARS-CoV-2.

Professor David Werring (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology). Professor Werring is Head of UCL’s Department of Translational Neuroscience and Stroke and an honorary consultant neurologist. He contributes to delivering hyperacute and acute stroke care, and runs a clinical service and research programme in intracerebral haemorrhage (a type of stroke caused by bleeding within the brain) and cerebral small vessel disease (a variety of conditions resulting from damage to small blood vessels in the brain). 

The UCL academics are among 54 health and biomedical scientists elected to the academy this year, joining a fellowship of 1,450 researchers whose work for the academy includes nurturing the next generation of scientists and shaping research and health policy in the UK and worldwide.

The expertise of Fellows elected spans a wide range of clinical and non-clinical disciplines, from infectious disease and stem cell biology to veterinary medicine and dementia research.

Professor Andrew Morris, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said: “It is a privilege to welcome these 54 exceptional scientists to our Fellowship. Each new Fellow brings unique expertise and perspective to addressing the most significant health challenges facing society. 

“The breadth of disciplines represented in this year’s cohort – from mental health and infectious disease to cancer biology and respiratory medicine – reflects the rich diversity of medical science today. Their election comes at a crucial time when scientific excellence and collaboration across disciplines are essential for addressing global health challenges both now and in the future. We look forward to working with them to advance biomedical research and create an environment where the best science can flourish for the benefit of people everywhere.” 

The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony on Wednesday 9 July 2025.

Links

• Spotlight on Professor Anna David
• UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health
• Professor Christina Pagel’s academic profile
• UCL Clinical Operational Research Unit
• Professor Rickie Patani's academic profile
• Professor Jonathan Schott’s academic profile
• UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
• Professor Roz Shafran’s academic profile
• UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
• Professor Danail Stoyanov’s academic profile
• UCL Computer Science
• Professor Gregory Towers’s academic profile
• UCL Infection & Immunity
• Professor David Werring’s academic profile

Image

• Clockwise from top left: Professors Gregory Towers, David Werring, Christina Pagel, Jonathan Schott, Rickie Patani, Danail Stoyanov, Roz Shafran, Anna David.

Media contact

Mark Greaves

m.greaves [at] ucl.ac.uk

+44 (0)20 3108 9485