Professor Sir Mark Caulfield elected member of the Medical Research Council

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of nine councils in the UK that supports academic and clinical research across various disciplines. Its aim is to improve human health by supporting academic and clinical research into medicine and biomedicine.

The Council helps ensure the sustainability of the UK's research and innovation capacity by engaging with its academic and clinical community, and provides leadership, guidance, and training. It works closely with partners to ensure the UK benefits from involvement with international research programmes.

On being elected a member of the Council, Professor Caulfield said: " I am delighted to be supporting the crucial role of UKRI and the Medical Research Council in advancing Biomedical Science for the benefit of humanity.”

Professor Caulfield was Director of Queen Mary’s William Harvey Research Institute between 2002-2020 and in 2021 took major leadership in Barts Life Sciences, a partnership between Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust. This is driving the development of a world-leading life sciences campus at Whitechapel focusing on digital precision healthcare. He became Vice Principal for Health for Queen Mary’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry in January 2022.

This new accolade adds to Sir Mark’s existing impressive career. He is President of the British Pharmacological Society and was Chief Scientist for Genomics England from 2013 to 2021; he received a Knighthood in 2019 in recognition of his leadership of the ground-breaking 100,000 Genomes project. During his career, Professor Caulfield has made substantial contributions to the discovery of genes related to blood pressure, cardiovascular health, cancer and rare diseases. His research has changed national and international guidance for high blood pressure.

He has received numerous international awards in recognition of his outstanding contributions to medicine, including the Lily Prize of the British Pharmacology Society, the Bjorn Folkow Award of the European Society of Hypertension, the Franz Volhard Award of the International Society of Hypertension, and most recently the Irish Cardiac Society Stokes Medal. 

More information about the work of the MRC can be found on their website.