BSCB Newsletter, Winter 2011

News

The Hooke Medal 2011 Presentation

The 2011 Hooke medal was awarded to Alex Gould at the BSCB Spring Meeting in Canterbury.

Alex started his scientific career as a PhD student at Cambridge University, in the laboratory of Rob White. Subsequently, he was a Beit and MRC postdoctoral fellow at NIMR with Robb Krumlauf before becoming a programme leader at NIMR in 1998.

On presenting the Hooke Medal to Alex, Clare Isacke, the BSCB President, described Alex as a worthy winner of the award who has made a number of seminal contributions to the field of developmental physiology using Drosophila as his model system.

In his Medal lecture, Alex described some of the recent work from his laboratory, which has included the discovery and dissection of the molecular mechanisms involved in regulating the timing of cell cycle exit in the Drosophila central nervous system. In particular, he discussed his work on lipid metabolism in Drosophila, which has led to the idea that dietary nutrients and remote organs, as well as local niches, are key regulators of transitions in stem-cell behaviour.

The BSCB invites nominations for the Hooke Medal 2013 from any member of the society. If you wish to nominate anyone, please contact the BSCB Secretary providing a brief supporting statement.