The Head of Keele’s School of Life Sciences has received a prestigious fellowship to honour her outstanding research.  

Professor Pip Beard has been made a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), in recognition of her meritorious contributions to knowledge thanks to her work on poxviruses, and her advocacy in promoting research as a career for veterinarians.  

Professor Beard is a veterinarian, virologist and pathologist who studies poxviruses that infect animals. Having first trained as a veterinarian in Sydney, Australia, she has gone on to have a distinguished career in research at universities and research institutes all over the world.  

She is an expert in poxvirology, with a particular focus on poxviruses that cause disease in animals such as sheeppox virus, goatpox virus, lumpy skin disease virus,  and mpox virus.   

Her research aims to understand how poxviruses cause disease in their host, and then to apply this knowledge to the development of new tools for the control and prevention of disease.  

Professor Beard said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been elected to Fellowship of the RCVS. My sincere thanks go out to all those people who have encouraged, mentored and supported me, and most of all to the past and present members of my research team. I hope to use my Fellowship status to encourage more veterinarians to consider a career in research.”  

The RCVS Fellowship is awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of veterinary science and medicine, to help advance veterinary standards within the profession.  

Dr Chris Tufnell FRCVS, Chair of the RCVS Fellowship Board, added: “Congratulations to Professor Beard for being elected to the RCVS Fellowship, a learned society dedicated to advancing the art and science of veterinary medicine and the public’s understanding of it. With her dedication to veterinary research and her promotion of it as a career choice, she will be a very welcome addition to the Fellowship and I look forward to formally welcoming her at our November Fellowship Day.”