Former Group Head at MRC LMS Professor Neil Brockdorff FRS has today been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Neil began his independent research career as a group head at the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (then MRC Clinical Sciences Centre) in 1994.

Prior to joining the Institute, Neil received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow and conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Biochemistry at St Mary’s Hospital, London and the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Research Centre in Harrow, London.

In 2001 he was awarded an honorary Chair in Genetics at Imperial and in 2008 relocated his group to the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford with the award of a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship.

Neil’s research continues to focus on the classical epigenetic model of X chromosome inactivation as well as a wider range of epigenetic processes that include Polycomb-mediated histone modifications, DNA methylation, nuclear organization, and non-coding RNAs.

He is a member of the MRC LMS Scientific Advisory Board, Member of EMBO and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Amanda Fisher, Director of the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, says:
“I am delighted for Neil’s election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. It is hard to think of a more deserving scientist for this accolade.”

Neil is one of fifty eminent scientists elected as Fellows of the Royal Society this year for their outstanding contributions to science. Fellows have been elected from across the UK and Commonwealth alongside some international institutions in Europe, Africa and Asia. Twelve of this year’s intake of Fellows are women.

Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, says:
“Our Fellows are key to the Royal Society’s fundamental purpose of using science for the benefit of humanity. From Norwich to Melbourne to Ethiopia, this year’s newly elected Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society are testament that science is a global endeavour and excellent ideas transcend borders. We also recognise the cutting-edge innovation taking place across industry, with many of this year’s Fellows coming from the thriving tech industry. For their outstanding contributions to research and innovation, both now and in the future, it gives me great pleasure to welcome the world’s best scientists into the ranks of the Royal Society.”

A full list of the newly elected Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society can be found here: https://royalsociety.org/news/2018/05/distinguished-scientists-elected-fellows-royal-society-2018/