Sanger Institute scientist elected Fellow of the Royal Society

Professor Gordon Dougan joins the Fellowship of the Royal Society

Professor Gordon Dougan joins the Fellowship of the Royal Society

Professor Gordon Dougan, head of Pathogens at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, has been elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s leading scientific organisation. Today’s announcement (Friday 20 April) recognises Professor Dougan’s significant contribution to the genetics of infectious disease.

Professor Dougan joins an existing membership of 1350 of the most distinguished scientists from the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries and the Republic of Ireland.

“I’m extremely grateful to be elected to the Royal Society along with so many esteemed scientists. This honour would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of all those who have worked with me over the years and I thank them.”

Professor Dougan who is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Cambridge, Honorary Professor at the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a Fellow of Wolfson College

Professor Dougan plays a pivotal role in guiding the direction of pathogen research at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, representing Pathogens on the Board of Management and heading up the Microbial Pathogenesis team. He is dedicated to exploring the interaction between pathogens and their hosts to benefit human health, in particular using Salmonella enteric serovar Typhi, the cause of typhoid, as a focus.

His team have been involved in a number of major high-profile worldwide collaborations to investigate methods for developing vaccines against diseases including typhoid, whooping cough, malaria, and tuberculosis; all critically important diseases, particularly in the third world. Committed to collaborative working and open-access research, Professor Dougan is particularly interested in the career development of younger scientists and the transfer of expertise to those working in developing countries.

“Professor Dougan’s election to the Royal Society is hugely merited and I am absolutely delighted he has received this honour. Throughout his career, Gordon has been relentlessly committed to understanding and reducing the burden some of the world’s most prevalent infectious diseases, particularly in the developing world.

“Beyond his scientific achievements, both at the Sanger Institute and elsewhere Gordon has always been a tremendous source of inspiration for other scientists, an energetic spirit of pathogen research with boundless enthusiasm who provides continuous leadership, encouragement and support to other scientists, young and not so young. I personally owe him a great debt for his wise advice and support.”

Professor Mike Stratton Director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Today’s election adds to Professor Dougan’s honours awarded from institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. He was elected to membership of EMBO in 2011, to the Fellowship of the American Society for Microbiology in 2010, to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2002 and to the Fellowship of the Biological Society in 2010.

“This is a fitting recognition of the outstanding contribution Professor Dougan and his team have made to our understanding the genetics behind infectious diseases. His work, identifying the genes that are involved in host-pathogen relationships and their mechanisms, has already stimulated the development of important vaccines. In the future I expect his research will continue to help improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment of major infectious diseases.”

Professor Stanley Falkow Stanford University School of Medicine and Lasker Prize winner