Shankar Balasubramanian and John Pyle have been named in the 2017 New Year Honours, in recognition of their contributions to society.
Shankar Balasubramanian is Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Department, Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and Fellow of Trinity College. He has been named a Knight Bachelor for services to science and medicine. He co-invented next generation sequencing which has provided the most transformative change in biology and medicine for several decades, and has led to the $1000 human genome. He has also made important contributions to four-stranded DNA, known as G-quadruplexes, and their role in cancer.
"It is a great honour for me and a wonderful acknowledgement of the research I have carried out in Cambridge with my co-workers and collaborators over the past two decades," said Sir Shankar. "I was particularly pleased to see recognition of our basic science and its impact on medicine, as I am jointly appointed between the Departments of Chemistry and Medicine."
Professor John Pyle, Head of the Department, is appointed CBE for services to Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Science. Professor Pyle’s research uses state-of-the-art numerical models, run on supercomputers, to study the processes controlling the present state of the atmosphere and its evolution. He is a Fellow of St Catharine’s College.
"I'm delighted, of course," said Pyle. "We are the best chemistry department in the country and one of the very best in the world. It's fantastic for the department to get recognition for that work."
(This article is adapted from the University of Cambridge news website)