Our Director elected to EMBO Membership
Owen Sansom, Director of our Network and of the CRUK Scotland Institute, has been elected, along with scientists from Europe and beyond, to the EMBO Membership, an honour that celebrates research excellence and outstanding achievements in the life sciences.
Owen studied Genetics at the University of Nottingham and went on to obtain an MRes in Biology from the University of Manchester and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh.
His work on the role of the APC gene in Wnt signalling and cancer established the foundations of his scientific interest in colorectal cancer, an interest that he has cemented with more than 275 papers in a career that spans over two decades.
In 2007, Owen won the Young Scientist Frank Rose Award in recognition of his contributions to translational cancer research and in 2012 he was awarded the CRUK Future Leaders in Cancer Research Prize for his contributions to cancer research. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2012 and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2017.
On receiving the news of the membership Owen said: “I am delighted to have been elected a member of this prestigious organisation. This is a testament to the collective efforts of my laboratory members over the years. I am incredibly grateful to them and to the many people who supported me throughout my career.”
EMBO Director Fiona Watt said: “The new EMBO Members and Associate Members have made immense contributions to fundamental life science research, and, in many cases, their work has paved the way for innovations that have improved lives and livelihoods around the world. As EMBO marks its 60th anniversary, we celebrate the pivotal roles played by the EMBO Membership in strengthening international life science research and contributing to the EMBO Programmes and activities. I send my warmest congratulations to all those elected.”