Two members of the Oxford Martin School have been honoured by the Royal Society for their achievements in science. The Society announced the awards today, 19 July 2011.
Professor Angela McLean, Co-Director of the Institute for Emerging Infections, has been recognised with the Gabor Medal, for her pivotal work on the mathematical population biology of immunity. The Gabor Medal is awarded for interdisciplinary work between the life sciences with other disciplines. Professor McLean specialises in developing mathematical models to aid our understanding of the evolution and spread of infectious agents. She was elected to the Royal Society in 2009. The Medal is accompanied by a gift of £1000.
The Royal Society has given the Kohn Award to Dr Chris Lintott, Co-Director of the Programme on Computational Cosmology. Dr Lintott, an astrophysicist, is well known for his involvement with popular science, as principal investigator of the renowned Galaxy Zoo citizen science project, and as co-presenter of The Sky at Night with Sir Patrick Moore. He is also a regular contributor to in the media, and co-authored Bang!, with Sir Patrick and Dr Brian May. The Kohn Award is accompanied by a grant of £7,500 for science communication activities, and a gift of £2,500.
The Royal Society is the UK’s national academy of science. Founded in 1660, the Society has three roles, as a provider of independent scientific advice, as a learned Society, and as a funding agency. The recipients of their annual awards are chosen by the Council of the Royal Society.