New treatment to protect patients from severe COVID-19 is being tested in the UK

New treatment to protect patients from severe COVID-19 is being tested in the UK

Sir Stephen Holgate MAE leads the research group at the University of Southampton where the new treatment has been developed. 


Interferon beta (IFNb) is a naturally occurring protein that orchestrates the body’s antiviral responses. Respiratory viruses, including coronavirus have developed a mechanism to suppress IFNb production by the lung, helping the virus to escape the immune response and thereby putting patients at risk of severe lung disease. 

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Members of Academia Europaea honoured for their achievements

Members of Academia Europaea honoured for their achievements

The outstanding achievements of four members of Academia Europaea have been recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours list for 2021.

From left to right: Professor Jane Alison Glover MAE, Professor Rachel Susan Griffith MAE, Professor Wendy Anne Bickmore MAE and Professor Francesca Gabrielle Happé MAE

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AE webinar on ‘New perspectives on COVID-19’

AE webinar on ‘New perspectives on COVID-19’


26th January 2021, 14:00 CEST, 13:00 GMT


About the webinar

This webinar on ‘New Perspectives on COVID-19’ will consist of 6 presentations by Members of Academia Europaea, who have all recently published papers on various biomedical aspects of COVID-19. The presentations will address a wide range of issues, including the genetics of the disease, how the virus enters cells, a focus on the vulnerable lipid envelope of the virus, how to explain the mysterious silent hypoxemia that gives rise to uncompensated low oxygen levels in the blood, a new ion channel target in the airways and how to understand the psychiatric aspects of COVID-19. The short presentations will be followed by a discussion session moderated by Ole Petersen.

This webinar is aimed at an international audience, in particular researchers, biomedical students, clinicians, and professionals in the healthcare and biomedical fields.

Register here

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Nicole Grobert MAE elected Chair of EU Group of Chief Scientific Advisors

Nicole Grobert MAE elected Chair of EU Group of Chief Scientific Advisors

Nicole Grobert, Professor of nanomaterials at the University of Oxford and Member of Academia Europaea, has been elected Chair of the European Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors.

The role of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA) is to provide independent scientific advice to the European Commission across a diverse range of topics to inform policymaking and to provide recommendations to improve the interaction between policymaking and scientific advice.

Professor Nicole Grobert will succeed Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, also a member of Academia Europaea.

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Academia Europaea announces election of its new President

Academia Europaea announces election of its new President


The Academy’s Board of Trustees has announced that Professor Marja Makarow has been confirmed as the next President of Academia Europaea, taking over the post from Professor Sierd Cloetingh in October 2021.




Professor Marja Makarow will be the seventh President since AE was established in 1988, and the Academy’s first female President. Professor Makarow will take up the role of President-elect in December 2020 and will then assume the Presidency in October 2021. 

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Richard Catlow knighted in the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List

Richard Catlow knighted in the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List

The AE Cardiff Hub is delighted that Richard Catlow, a member of AE has been honoured for his services to science research.  



About Sir Richard Catlow FRS FRSC FInstP

Professor Catlow is Professor of Catalytic and Computational Chemistry at Cardiff University and University College London. His work in the field of computational and experimental studies of complex inorganic materials has offered insight into the mechanisms of industrial catalysis applying computer models to solid state and materials chemistry to investigate the synthesis, structure and properties of materials in the solid phase. He is one of the founding members of the UK Catalysis Hub and has led the Research programme running at Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH) since 2013.

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Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to 2 MAEs for work to understand black holes

Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to 2 MAEs for work to understand black holes


Members of Academia Europaea, Professor Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS MAE and Professor Reinhard Genzel FRS MAE are among this year’s Nobel Prize winners.


Sir Roger Penrose of the University of Oxford was awarded “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity”. Professor Reinhard Genzel from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and Professor Andrea Ghez from the University of California were jointly awarded “for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy.”

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Three members of Academia Europaea awarded for distinction in their field

Three members of Academia Europaea awarded for distinction in their field


September has seen three members of the Academia Europaea awarded for excellence in their field. The Royal Society’s Copley Medal 2020 has been awarded to Sir Alan Fersht, the 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics to Sir Martin Hairer and the 2020 Balzan Prize to Jean-Marie Tarascon.

From left to right: Sir Alan Fersht, Sir Martin Hairer and Jean-Marie Tarascon

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Sir Mark Walport announced as new AE Cardiff Hub Steering Group Chair

Sir Mark Walport announced as new AE Cardiff Hub Steering Group Chair

Sir Mark Walport

Sir Mark Walport FRS FMedSci MAE, the UK’s Government Chief Scientific Adviser between 2013 and 2017 and the Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2017 to 2020, is to be AE Cardiff’s new Steering Group Chair.

Sir John Skehel
Sir John Skehel



The announcement was made at AE Cardiff’s fifth annual steering group meeting which took place on 16th September. At the meeting, Professor Ole Petersen FRS, Director of the AE Cardiff Hub, informed that the AE Cardiff Hub Steering Group’s first Chair, Sir John Skehel FRS, would be stepping down due to other work commitments.

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