Professor Sir Rory Collins, Director of the Nuffield Department of Population Health, has joined a distinguished group of scientists today with his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
The Royal Society said of his election:
'Rory Collins created and led large studies that transformed statins from esoteric drugs for familial hypercholesterolaemia into safe, widely-used generics that annually prevent millions of heart attacks and ischaemic strokes. His large placebo-controlled trials and worldwide Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ meta-analyses confirmed heart attack reduction, discovered stroke reduction, and demonstrated safety and efficacy in many different types of patient.'
The Fellowship of the Royal Society is made up of the most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists from or living and working in the UK and the Commonwealth. Past Fellows and Foreign Members have included Newton, Darwin, Einstein and Hawking. 47 new Fellows have been elected for 2015, including Professor Jeremy Farrar (Director of The Wellcome Trust), Sir James Dyson (Chairman of Dyson Limited) and Professor Dame Julia Slingo (Chief Scientist at the Met Office).
There is more information about the Society and this year's Fellows and the Royal Society's website.