Submitted by Sophie Milbourne on Thu, 21/05/2026 - 10:00
Unit Director, Prof Anne Willis, has been elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Anne is one of 60 new Fellows announced today. She joins a group of the UK’s leading figures within biomedical and health sciences who have been selected for their outstanding contributions to advancing medical science, cutting edge research discoveries and translating developments into benefits for patients and wider society.
Speaking about the election, Anne said:
“I am honoured to have been elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. This recognition reflects the contributions of my research group and our wider network of collaborators over many years. As RNA-based medicines and other advanced therapeutics become an increasingly important part of modern medicine, it is vital that we better understand how cells respond to these therapies and how unintended ‘off-target’ effects can arise. By addressing these challenges now, we can help ensure that new treatments are safe-by-design to deliver lasting benefits for patients.”
Anne’s research in the Unit is directed towards understanding the role of post-transcriptional control in response to toxic injury with a focus on RNA-binding proteins, regulatory RNA motifs and tRNAs. Through mechanistic research, her group are developing predictive adverse outcome models that can be shared with our industrial partners. In particular, they are working to understand the ‘off target’ effects of new modalities such as therapeutic RNAs.
Professor Andrew Morris CBE FRSE PMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said: “It is a privilege to welcome this outstanding new cohort to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Each of our new Fellows brings exceptional expertise and a shared commitment to improving health through discovery research, clinical innovation, and the translation of evidence into practice and policy.
“The breadth of disciplines represented this year reflects both the richness of modern medical science and the importance of collaboration across fields. At a time when health challenges are increasingly complex, the Academy’s Fellowship provides a unique platform for scientific leaders to work together, champion excellence, and ensure research delivers real benefits for people and communities.”
This year’s elected Fellows spans a range of clinical and non-clinical disciplines, including cancer medicine, vaccinology, maternal health, suicide prevention and the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. They join an esteemed Fellowship of over 1,500 researchers who are at the heart of the Academy’s work to nurture scientific talent and shape research and health policy in the UK and worldwide.
The Academy of Medical Sciences is an independent body based in the UK. Their focus is to drive advances in the translation and implementation of research on health to reach and benefit society, recognising and representing a broad range of research fields across medical science.
The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony on Tuesday 30th June.
Prof Anne Willis obtained her PhD from the University of London/CRUK, working with Dr Tomas Lindahl. She then worked in Cambridge with Professor Richard Perham, Department of Biochemistry, and was a Junior Research Fellow at Churchill College. Anne became a lecturer at the University of Leicester, progressing to Professor in 2004. Anne then took up the position of Director of Cancer Research at the University of Nottingham and from 2008-2013 held a BBSRC Professorial Fellowship. In 2010 Anne became Director of the MRC Toxicology Unit. Her work has been recognised by Membership of EMBO (2015), an Honorary Fellowship of the British Toxicology Society (2017), the award of an OBE for Services to Biomedical Science and Promoting the Careers of Women in Science (2017) and the Barnes Prize (2025) for Toxicology Research and Leadership.
