Andrew Lees, Professor of Neurology at University College London, is to be the first ever recipient of the Lord Brain Memorial Medal – awarded for the scientific contributions he has made to the field of movement disorders within the UK. He will receive the medal following his delivery of the inaugural Lord Brain Memorial Lecture; "Brainwashed by the Black Stuff," at Barts and The London Medical School on June 24, 2010.
The Lord Brain Memorial Lecture has been established in honour and memory of Walter Russell Brain's outstanding contribution to the field of neurology. The memorial medal will honour healthcare workers or scientists who have worked in the UK and have a made a major scientific contribution to the field of neurosciences. The lecture will be held biennially and is hosted by the Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma in the Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Walter Russell Brain studied medicine at Oxford University - he qualified with a BMBCh in 1922 and joined the newly formed Medical Unit at The London Hospital where he took up neurology. He was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1931. He made significant contributions to neurology through his discoveries, books and papers, and during his lifetime was elected to myriad positions among them president of the Royal College of Physicians, president of the Association of Neurologists, and president for the Association of the Advancement of Science. He was Knighted in 1952 and created a Baronet in 1954. He edited the journal Brain from 1954 until his death in 1966.
On becoming the first recipient of the Lord Brain Memorial Medal, Professor Andrew Lees had this to say; "Russell Brain was the consummate physician and a man of great integrity. His Textbook of Neurology was staple reading during my training and his original contributions to the understanding of neurological disorders were emphasised by my teachers. The Royal London Hospital has a distinguished and long tradition as a centre of excellence for neurology and neurosurgery and it is an unexpected honour and great pleasure to have been chosen to deliver the First Lord Brain Memorial Lecture at my alma mater."
Professor Lees has achieved international recognition for his work in Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. He is director of the Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies at University College London, and Professor of Neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. In 2006 he was awarded the prestigious Movement Disorders Research Award by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).
For further information please contact:
Alex Fernandes
Communications Office
Queen Mary, University of London
Tel: 020 7882 7910
email: a.fernandes@qmul.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry offers international levels of excellence in research and teaching while serving a population of unrivalled diversity amongst which cases of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, TB, oral disease and cancers are prevalent, within east London and the wider Thames Gateway. Through partnership with our linked trusts, notably Barts and The London NHS Trust, and our associated University Hospital trusts – Homerton, Newham, Whipps Cross and Queen's – the School's research and teaching is informed by an exceptionally wide ranging and stimulating clinical environment.
At the heart of the School's mission lies world class research, the result of a focused programme of recruitment of leading research groups from the UK and abroad and a £100 million investment in state-of-the-art facilities. Research is focused on translational research, cancer, cardiology, clinical pharmacology, inflammation, infectious diseases, stem cells, dermatology, gastroenterology, haematology, diabetes, neuroscience, surgery and dentistry.
The School is nationally and internationally recognised for research in these areas, reflected in the £40 million it attracts annually in research income. Its fundamental mission, with its partner NHS Trusts, and other partner organisations such as CRUK, is to ensure that that the best possible clinical service is underpinned by the very latest developments in scientific and clinical teaching, training and research.