Queen Mary academic is awarded prestigious Fellowship

Professor Sussan Nourshargh

Professor Nourshargh’s accolade is a result of her commitment to research into the analysis of leukocytes motility and mechanisms of inflammation.

Academy fellows are elected for outstanding contributions to the advancement of medical science, for innovative application of scientific knowledge or for their conspicuous service to healthcare.

Professor Nourshargh leads the Centre for Microvascular Research within the William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary’s Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

“It’s an incredible honour to be awarded a Fellowship at the Academy of Medical Sciences,” she said.

“I’m very much looking forward to contributing to the Academy's activities in promoting medical science in the UK.”

Professor Nourshargh is among 46 new Fellows who will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony on Wednesday 27 June 2012.

Professor Sir John Tooke, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said: “These new Fellows represent the wealth of talent within the UK biomedical community. Excellent medical science and medical scientists are key to breakthroughs in preventing and treating ill health.

“I am delighted that the Academy can recognise these new Fellows for the work they have done in the generation of cutting edge science and its translation into health benefits for society.”

Professor Nourshargh has also been awarded a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award. These grants are awarded to researchers who have an international track-record of significant achievement, who have demonstrated the originality and impact of their research, and who are leaders in their field. Using advanced real-time imaging, Professor Nourshargh will investigate the impact of inflammation on interactions between white blood cells and blood vessels, aiming to identify how inflammatory diseases progress.

Professor Nourshargh graduated in Pharmacology from University College London in 1982 and obtained her PhD in Pharmacology from King’s College London in 1986. She initiated her academic career as a Lecturer at the National Heart & Lung Institute in London in 1988 and became Professor of Immunopharmacology at Imperial College London in 2006.

In 2007 she was appointed as Professor of Microvascular Pharmacology by the William Harvey Research Institute to establish and head a new Centre focusing on Microvascular Research.