The new Fellows have been elected for their outstanding contributions to biomedical and health science, leading research discoveries, and translating developments into benefits for patients and the wider society.

The new Fellows are:

Professor Susan Jebb OBE, Professor of Diet and Population Health, University of Oxford. Professor Jebb is a nutrition scientist whose work focuses on how what we eat affects the risk of gaining weight or becoming obese, and the interventions that might be effective to help people lose weight or reduce the risk of obesity-related diseases.

Commenting on the Fellowship, Professor Jebb said: ‘I feel very honoured and absolutely delighted to have been elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. It is a huge privilege to join this group of people who individually have made such important scientific advances.

‘As a combined force the Fellows shape the way scientific research is conducted in the UK and develop ways to tackle the big health challenges now and in the future. I am really looking forward to contributing to this important work, especially activities linked to improving the health of the public which is the focus of my own research.’

Professor Eleanor Barnes, Professor of Hepatology and Experimental Medicine, University of Oxford.

Professor David Beeson, Professor in Molecular Neuroscience, University of Oxford. Professor Beeson has made an exceptional contribution to the study of neuromuscular disorders where the communication between nerve cells and muscle is impaired. His most recent research has focused on translating molecular knowledge of neuromuscular synapse biology into treatment for inherited (congenital) myasthenic syndromes (CMS). Recent work with patients has led to prospective clinical studies showing the dramatic beneficial effects of β2-adrenergic receptor in treating many forms of CMS.

Professor Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford. Professor MacLaren pioneers new treatments for blindness, particularly in patients with incurable retinal diseases, using stem cell-based approaches, gene therapy or electronic retinas. His laboratory is also developing new techniques for cataract and retinal surgery. Together with the University of Oxford in 2014 he co-founded Nightstar, a biotechnology company based at the Wellcome Trust in London, to develop gene therapy treatments for patients with retinal diseases.

Professor Jordan Raff, César Milstein Professor of Cancer Cell Biology, University of Oxford.

Professor Guy Thwaites, Professor of Infectious Diseases, University of Oxford and Director, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Research Program in Vietnam.

Professor Mark Woodward, Professor of Epidemiology and Statistics, University of Oxford.