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| Antarctic expert and HIV research pioneer among scientists made dames Antarctic expert and HIV research pioneer among scientists made dames | |
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| A polar scientist who helped to uncover dramatic historical warming in Antarctica and became the first woman to lead the British government’s research in the region has been made a dame in the New Year honours list. | A polar scientist who helped to uncover dramatic historical warming in Antarctica and became the first woman to lead the British government’s research in the region has been made a dame in the New Year honours list. |
| Prof Jane Francis, the director of the British Antarctic Survey and a veteran of more than a dozen expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica, receives the award for her services to polar science and diplomacy. | Prof Jane Francis, the director of the British Antarctic Survey and a veteran of more than a dozen expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica, receives the award for her services to polar science and diplomacy. |
| “It’s a complete surprise and I’m greatly honoured,” Francis told the Guardian. She will travel to Antarctica on Sunday for a week and again at the end of January to visit the Halley research station, which is being moved to avoid an ominous-looking crack in the ice sheet. | “It’s a complete surprise and I’m greatly honoured,” Francis told the Guardian. She will travel to Antarctica on Sunday for a week and again at the end of January to visit the Halley research station, which is being moved to avoid an ominous-looking crack in the ice sheet. |
| Francis, who first sailed into Antarctic waters on a BAS expedition in 1989, said: “The word awesome was invented for Antarctica. It completely blows your mind. It is incredibly beautiful, but also very humbling. Being a fragile human in such a cold and remote place can be daunting.” | Francis, who first sailed into Antarctic waters on a BAS expedition in 1989, said: “The word awesome was invented for Antarctica. It completely blows your mind. It is incredibly beautiful, but also very humbling. Being a fragile human in such a cold and remote place can be daunting.” |
| Also awarded a damehood is Prof Amanda Fisher, the director of the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial College in London. Fisher’s discoveries helped pinpoint HIV as the virus that causes Aids. The honour also recognises her work on stem cells and epigenetics, and her advocacy for women in science. | Also awarded a damehood is Prof Amanda Fisher, the director of the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial College in London. Fisher’s discoveries helped pinpoint HIV as the virus that causes Aids. The honour also recognises her work on stem cells and epigenetics, and her advocacy for women in science. |
| Other researchers to receive damehoods are Prof Ottoline Leyser, the director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at Cambridge University, and Prof Caroline Watkins, the only nursing professor of stroke care in the UK. | Other researchers to receive damehoods are Prof Ottoline Leyser, the director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at Cambridge University, and Prof Caroline Watkins, the only nursing professor of stroke care in the UK. |
| Sir Alec Jeffreys, whose accidental invention of DNA fingerprinting transformed forensic science, has been awarded the companion of honour, as has Mary Warnock, who brought about an overhaul of special needs education and shaped Britain’s fertility regulations, now widely regarded as the best in the world. | Sir Alec Jeffreys, whose accidental invention of DNA fingerprinting transformed forensic science, has been awarded the companion of honour, as has Mary Warnock, who brought about an overhaul of special needs education and shaped Britain’s fertility regulations, now widely regarded as the best in the world. |
| A number of scientists receive knighthoods, including Prof Shankar Balasubramanian, a Cambridge University chemist and co-inventor of next-generation DNA sequencing, a procedure available for less than £1,000 that can read a whole human genome. Nicholas Black, a professor of health services research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Jim Smith, the director of research at the Francis Crick Institute, have also been awarded knighthoods. | A number of scientists receive knighthoods, including Prof Shankar Balasubramanian, a Cambridge University chemist and co-inventor of next-generation DNA sequencing, a procedure available for less than £1,000 that can read a whole human genome. Nicholas Black, a professor of health services research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Jim Smith, the director of research at the Francis Crick Institute, have also been awarded knighthoods. |