We wish the warmest congratulations to Professor Sir John Irving Bell on being appointed as a Companion of Honour (CH) in the King’s Birthday Honours list. He is recognised for services to Medicine, Medical Research, the Life Science Industry and to Public Health.
We are delighted that Professor Sir John Bell continues to Chair the Board of the Oxford Academic Health Partners.
Commenting, Professor Sir John Bell says: ‘I was delighted to hear that I had been recognised with a King’s Honour for the work I have done in medicine and life sciences. It reflects the efforts of the very large number of people across the sector who have made this one of the UK’s strongest disciplines.’
The citation for Professor Sir John Bell highlights his transformation of the University’s research and innovation ecosystem enabling billions of pounds of investment in research programmes, equipment, major building projects and land purchases. The development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine would not have been possible without his vision to build vaccines research in Oxford over the last 30 years.
During the pandemic he dedicated countless hours assisting the UK with strategies for developing and rolling out vaccines, understanding emerging immunology and developing national testing programmes. The citation goes on to state that Sir John is admired across the world as an energetic force operating across academia, philanthropists, industry and Whitehall, working with great dedication to communicate key scientific ideas, translate them to practical applications and identify key enablers to implementation.