Cancer Research UK scientists named on New Year's Honours list

Several of Cancer Research UK's scientists have been named on this year's New Year's Honours list, as has the government's National Cancer Director and a long-term supporter of the charity.

Professors Karen Vousden, Valerie Beral, Charles Roland Wolf and Mike Richards, and Dr Ralph Kohn, have all received honours in recognition of their hard work and dedication to science, clinical science and medicine.

Professor Karen Vousden, director of the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, and leader of the institute's tumour suppression research group, has been awarded a CBE for services to clinical science.

Her achievements include her work on the p53 protein - known as the 'guardian of the genome' - and her research into the role of another protein called MDM2, which controls the activity of p53.

Welcoming Professor Vousden's award, Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, praised her "outstanding leadership" and "major discoveries".

"Her excellence in direction at the Beatson has led to the recruitment of world-class scientists, a strong focus in research into the processes underlying cancer spread, the discovery of new potential anti-cancer treatments and an increased profile for the institute," he observed.

Professor Valerie Beral, director of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU) in Oxford, has been awarded a DBE for services to science.

Her unit coordinates two of the largest cohort studies of breast cancer in the world, allowing her team to look at how a woman's lifestyle influences her health and future risk of breast cancer.

Harpal Kumar congratulated Professor Beral on her DBE, noting that she has made "groundbreaking contributions to understanding cancer, most notably through the Million Women Study".

Professor Charles Roland Wolf, director of the Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Dundee, has received an OBE for services to science.

Professor Wolf studies the proteins that protect our cells from cancer-causing chemicals in the environment, as well as from the harmful effects of radiation and chemotherapy.

Harpal Kumar also congratulated Professor Mike Richards, who has received a knighthood for services to medicine.

Since his appointment as England's National Cancer Director in October 1999, Professor Richards has been responsible for the development and implementation of the NHS Cancer Plan and the Cancer Reform Strategy.

Harpal Kumar commented: "We're delighted to congratulate Professor Mike Richards on his knighthood - it's a well deserved honour."

Finally, Cancer Research UK congratulates Dr Ralph Kohn, a medical scientist, entrepreneur and musician, on his knighthood for services to science, music and charity.

Dr Kohn is a trustee of the Kohn Foundation and has supported Cancer Research UK since 1998.

He set up an independent medical research company in the 1960s and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal Society and British Pharmaceutical Society.