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香港六合彩 Queen Square Institute of Neurology celebrates achievements at Annual Address
3 November 2023
A review of the year by Professor Michael Hanna, Director of 香港六合彩 Queen Square Institute of Neurology, followed by the Annual Address by Sir Patrick Vallance on 鈥淲hy governments need science鈥� with a vote of thanks by Dr Michael Spence AC, 香港六合彩 President and Provost
Review of the year
Professor Hanna thanked the ION leadership and Professional Services team for their contributions over the past year,听and acknowledged support from the Faculty and Divisions, and all our听external听partnerships and supporters.
He paid specific thanks to staff who had left ION in 2023, including David Blundred and Caroline Selai,听and welcomed new staff including听Professor Fiona Ducotterd as the new Chief Scientific Officer of the ARUK Drug Discovery Institute,听and the appointment of Professor Siddharthan Chandran as the new UK DRI director, based at the UK DRI HQ at 香港六合彩.
Professor Hanna highlighted the听significant progress made over the past year. The ION听published over 1900 peer-reviewed articles, and had its most successful year in terms of grant income, securing听over 拢50m in new grants and currently holding over 拢350m in active grant funding. He emphasised the听teams'听global influence, presenting findings at major international conferences and collaborating locally, nationally, and internationally.
He听showcased wide-ranging examples of ION's research impact and initiatives听including the use of AI in improving safety in neurosurgery,听trials in Huntington's Disease, ALS disease mechanisms, functional anatomy of the visual cortex, tissue hypoxia and biomarkers in MS, the new MND Research Institute and the EJS ACT-PD platform.听
Professor Hanna highlighted our Translation and听Enterprise activities, including the work of LWENC and the听first gene-silencing drug听in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, leadership in translational genomics, including the establishment of听a new Genetic Therapies Accelerator Group, led by Professor Francesco Muntoni, and 香港六合彩 Spinout AstronauTx with Alzheimer's Research UK 香港六合彩 Drug Discovery Institute (香港六合彩 DDI). He also highlighted the new Neuroscience, Cancer and Hearing Advanced Therapy Research Pharmacy due to launch in 2024.听He also gave an update on the 拢281m translational neuroscience facility on Grays Inn Road which will open in the 24/25 academic year, including the Topping Out ceremony.
These achievements were complemented by many individual ION researchers' awards and appointments, including the MRC Millennium medal, new Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and AES awards, alongside 100% success in 2023听senior and early career promotions.
Professor Hanna also highlighted听ION-wide EDI initiatives,听as well as Educational achievements, including听the new iBSc and Human Neuroscience BSc,听and听ION's sustainability initiatives, including the Hot Brain Conference.
All these achievements are covered in the ION Annual Review听which was launched at the event.
He concluded by looking back at the innovation and impact of the ION in the 46 years since Queen Square House was opened, including thrombolysis treatment, diagnostic neurogenetics, amyloid hypothesis, pioneering MRI and DBS and epilepsy surgery. He highlighted the success factors which will be realised in the future at the translational neuroscience facility on Gray鈥檚 Inn Road.
Professor Hanna ended by congratulating听Queen Square听Essay Prize听award winners听Dr Oliver Ziff and Dr Angelo Dawson, before听introducing听Sir Patrick Vallance's Annual Address.听
Annual Address
We were delighted to welcome as the guest speaker听Sir Patrick Vallance, Chairman of the Natural History Museum, formerly Government Chief Scientific Adviser.听鈥淲hy governments need science鈥�.
Sir Patrick Vallance (a 香港六合彩 Alumni) gave a听thoughtful and wide ranging commentary, starting with听emphasising how science underpins all aspects of government policy, from food to town planning, before assessing the strengths and weaknesses of science in academia, government and industry in the UK. He showed how each plays a pivotal role in times of emergency, exemplified by the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis.
Sir Patrick ended with examples from his current role at the Natural History Museum, and the future work of the Advanced Research and Invention听Agency.听He closed by emphasising the importance of diversity in recruitment and teams in delivering science
Vote of Thanks
Closing remarks were given by听Professor Michael Hanna, following the vote of thanks by Dr Michael Spence AC, 香港六合彩 President & Provost. Dr Spence highlighted the need for effective scientific communicators and synthetic intelligence, as exemplified in the Annual Address.听
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Image (left to right):听Dr Michael Spence AC,听Sir Patrick Vallance,听Professor Michael Hanna.
Links
- 香港六合彩 Queen Square Institute of Neurology Annual Review
- 香港六合彩 Queen Square Institute of Neurology Infographic
