Two New Year Honours have been awarded to clinicians at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who are known for their work in genomics.
Professor Krishna Chatterjee, a consultant endocrinologist, has been awarded a CBE for his groundbreaking work on endocrine disorders.
Congratulations also go to Beth Blane, awarded an MBE for services to pathogen genome sequencing and her role in helping to track Covid variants during the pandemic.
Professor Krishna Chatterjee, a consultant endocrinologist, has been awarded a CBE for his groundbreaking work on endocrine disorders.
Alongside his work at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), Krishna Chatterjee is a professor of endocrinology at the University of Cambridge. He is also director of the NIHR Clinical Research Facility in Cambridge and led the COVBOOST vaccine trail locally during the pandemic.
He is well known for discoveries of genetic disorders of thyroid gland formation, the regulation of hormone synthesis and hormone action.
His research group is focused on genetic and molecular endocrinology, exploring disorders including resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) and PPARgamma gene defects associated with lipodystrophic insulin resistance.
This represents the efforts of many clinical and scientist colleagues in the University, CUH and our NIHR Clinical Research Facility.
Professor Krishna Chatterjee
He added:
"Together with the patients participating in our research, we strive to continue advancing knowledge and health outcomes in endocrine disorders.”
Beth Blane, awarded an MBE for services to pathogen genome sequencing and her role in helping to track Covid variants during the pandemic.
Beth Blane is a research assistant and laboratory manager at the University of Cambridge in the research group of Sharon Peacock CBE, professor of public health and microbiology in the Department of Medicine.
She trained as a biomedical scientists at the Clinical Microbiology and Public Health Labroatory based at the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), before deciding to focus on research at the University of Cambridge in 2012.
At the start of the pandemic, she became a key member of the Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium (opens in a new tab), directed by Professor Peacock to track down new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through a network of UK labs carrying out genomic sequencing.
This genomic data was integral to vaccine development, tracking variants and understanding changes in diseases severity from Covid-19 and remains a vital part of keeping Covid vaccines effective.
In her role as logistics manager for COG-UK, Beth ensured SARS-CoV-2 samples were successfully transported and sequenced across the whole COG-UK network.
I am very grateful to receive this award, and am so pleased that the value of pathogen genome sequencing is gaining recognition.
Beth Blane
She added:
"After working to develop and implement MRSA sequencing at Addenbrooke’s, along with other significant pathogens, our research group was in an ideal position contribute to the pandemic response."
Read more about Beth Blane and her role at COG-UK here (opens in a new tab).
Further information on Professor Chatterjee can be found here.