PROMOTIONS TO READER AND HONORARY PROFESSOR

The Professorial and Readerships Promotions Committee has agreed the following promotions to Readership and Honorary Professorship level which are, as always, subject to the formal ratification of Senate and Council. 

Faculty of Health

Rosemary Fricker (Medical School) has been promoted to Reader. Rose joined Keele in early 2005 as a Lecturer and has been integral to the establishment of the School.  A neuroscientist by background, her research explores developing stem cell therapies for disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.  Her particular interests are in understanding how nerve cells develop in the brain so that this knowledge can be applied in the development of novel strategies to enhance the conversion of stem cells into specific types of nerve cells. 

Her research group has been supported at Keele through extensive funding by Parkinson's UK and she now sits on the medical charity's National Research Advisory Panel.  In 2006 Rose became co-lead of Year 1 of Keele's new MBChB degree programme with responsibility for developing and running the critical first year of the course.  She has been hugely successful in combining significant responsibilities in teaching and learning whist achieving international success in neurological research.

Martyn Lewis (Primary Care) has been promoted to Reader in recognition of his leading role in the ARUK multi-disciplinary trials team and a Co-Director of the CTU Unit.  Martyn has played an important part in the success and standing of the Research Institute as a centre-of-excellence for primary care research. Martyn joined Keele in 1987 as an undergraduate studying Maths and Biology before going on to gain a PhD in Medical Statistics with Professors Peter Jones and Roger Hartley. He was appointed Lecturer in Statistics in PCHS in 1997 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2006. His work leading the statistical design and analysis of clinical trials has led to publications in prestigious journals, including the Lancet and BMJ, which has helped to provide the basis for decision-making in clinical practice for patients with common syndromes of musculoskeletal pain and disability.

He has co-authored over 80 journal article publications and has been co-applicant on research grants in excess of £6 million. Martyn has forged important international collaborations leading to joint publications, including work on clinimetric properties of questionnaire scales, evaluating the optimal size for pilot trials as well as contributing to trials in back and neck pain.  He teaches on the new Research Methods module in the Faculty of Health, serves on several national Data Monitoring Committees and is peer reviewer for several international journals as well as NIHR and HTA grant application.

Nigel Ratcliffe (School of Pharmacy) is currently Chair of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Partnership NHS Trust.  His appointment as an Honorary Professor reflects his close involvement with the Faculty and School of Pharmacy since retiring from AstraZeneca.  The Partnership Trust is one of the largest in England serving a population of 1.1 million and employing 5,000 staff.  Along with Chief Executive Stuart Poyner, Professor Ratcliffe is responsible for integrating community health and social care services in line with the NHS Plan and the local health services redesign project Fit for the Future.  He is also Chair of the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council Appointments Board. 

Prior to joining the NHS, Professor Ratcliffe was a Global Vice President within AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Plc and a Director of the European Advisory Board of the Drug Information Association.  During a 25-year career with AstraZeneca, Professor Ratcliffe held a variety of VP and senior management positions in strategic and business development and regulatory affairs in the UK, Scandinavia, North America and the Far East.  He is a Pharmacist by background, holds a Ph.D in microbial genetics from the University of London and is a Fellow of the British Institute of Regulatory Affairs.  His special interests are delivery of healthcare and pharmaceutical product development, topics on which he is already teaching on the MPharm programme.

Neal Maskrey (School of Pharmacy) is currently Director of the Medicines Prescribing Centre (MPC), within the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.  He has been appointed an Honorary Professor linked to the school's Medicines Management Unit.  Professor Maskrey is a GP by background who has spent a significant portion of his career in teaching and evaluating the use of evidence in clinical decision making by health care professionals.  

His appointment within the School of Pharmacy as an Honorary Chair in Evidence-informed Decision Making reflects an association that originated via Keele's role in the National Prescribing Centre's exploitation arm NPC-plus.  NPC is now integrated into NICE which will open up further opportunities for collaboration in developing programmes of teaching and research in this exciting and important field.  Professor Maskrey was brought up in Silverdale and attended School in Wolstanton before going on to study medicine at Leeds University.  He has a strong affiliation with Keele and the Potteries, and undertook his earlier clinical training at what is now the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Sorin Baiasu, who came to Keele in 2007 following a Simon Research Fellowship and Lectureship in Philosophy at Manchester University, has been promoted to Reader in Philosophy in recognition of the excellence of his research, within the Kantian tradition, on the questions of the normativity and justification of moral and political standards. His work in Kantian studies runs from his 2001 PhD thesis, awarded the Ernest Baker Prize for the best dissertation in political theory by the UK Political Studies Association in 2002, to the monograph Kant and Sartre: Re-Discovering Critical Ethics (2011), which has already attracted plaudits from international specialists in the field.

Dr Baiasu has also published important articles in the principal peer-reviewed journals in his field, and has co-edited volumes on Politics and Metaphysics in Kant (2011) and Practical Justification in Kant: Interpretative Essays (forthcoming, 2012). He plays a leading role in the UK Kant Society, as its Secretary since 2006, and is co-convenor of the Kantian Political Thought Standing Group of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). Much in demand as a plenary speaker at national and international conferences, he has co-edited a special issue of Kantian Review following a conference that he organised at the American Philosophical Association in Chicago.

Faculty of Natural Sciences

Nigel Cassidy (Readership)

Nigel Cassidy began his interest in geophysics through his BSc at Liverpool University, before taking his PhD here at Keele, on the use of radar for studying archaeological sites.  He has been here ever since, initially as a University Research/ Teaching Fellow, then as Lecturer in 2004 and Senior Lecturer since 2007. 

Two features characterise Nigel's research; the first has been the identification of a key area of expertise that would have widespread applicability and long-term importance – namely, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and its use in analysing near-surface features.  The second has been his interest in inter-disciplinary research – especially important for a technique like GPR, in which the data collected can be invaluable in collaborative projects, and he was a 'Researcher in Residence' for the '3ME cross-disciplinary medical/ modelling' project (£300k grant from EPSRC). 

He has been lead or co-applicant on £1.8M of research grants, and was awarded a highly prestigious Royal Society Industrial Fellowship (2008-2012).  He has around 40 peer-reviewed publications, is a regular keynote speaker or chair at international conferences, and was awarded the Mintrop medal in 2009 by the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers.  His own research work is complemented by his role as Director of Postgraduate Research for EPSAM, whilst his external activities include serving on national geophysics committees and the NERC Peer Review College.

Frédéric Tripet (Readership)

Frédéric Tripet obtained his BSc and PhD degrees in Switzerland, the former in Biology from the University of Lausanne, and the latter from the University of Bern on Evolutionary Biology.  His promise was recognised by the Swiss Science Foundation by the award of a Fellowship in 1997, and an Advanced Fellowship in 2000, which enabled him to launch his academic career through research appointments in California and Texas.  Frédéric joined Keele as a Lecturer in 2006, and continued to develop highly successful research studying insect vectors associated with malaria transmission. 

His seminal studies on the ecology and population genetics of Anopheles gambiae have had a major impact in the field, with 49 publications widely cited by other researchers.  Major collaborative projects have included support from the Wellcome Trust (£800k in 2008) and the Medical Research Council (£1M in 2010).  Frédéric has not only been committed to understanding the basic science of malaria, but has been keen to see his results affect practices in communities.

His studies on the emergence of pesticide resistance have been used to inform malaria control programmes and he was instrumental in establishing a code of practice for the use of transgenic mosquitoes, leading to new governmental guidelines, and increased public awareness on these issues.

Edward Mitchell (Honorary Professorship)

Edward Mitchell is a senior scientist based at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, with research expertise in the structural analysis of biomolecules using X-ray diffraction.  Alongside his own research, he has led the development of synchrotron beam facilities to support multi-disciplinary projects involving academia and industry.  Ed started his higher education in Chemistry at Oxford (BA in 1991), before carrying out his DPhil there on Molecular Biophysics; this set the scene for a move to the ESRF in 1995, where he has been based even since. 

His roles have, however, changed significantly during his time there.  His initial postdoctoral research appointment was soon followed by posts managing the synchrotron beams (which are used by dozens of research groups), then on to managing the preparation for a £100M upgrade of the ESRF, and most recently the management of commercial opportunities using the facilities at the centre. 

His own structural research has focused on studies of host-parasite interactions in the malarial infection cycle, DNA interactions with anti-tumour drugs, and iron containing proteins, often using X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques to probe the molecular details.  The biophysics link to Keele led to Ed being appointed as Honorary Reader in 2008, and joint research projects feature strongly in his outstanding list of publications, grants, and keynote lectures.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY AT KEELE

A celebration of International Women's Day takes place next Thursday (8 March) at the Sustainability Hub building - the theme for the day is 'Inspiring Futures'. 

The programme includes talks by inspirational speakers as well as workshops focusing on entrepreneurship, empowerment and employability.

Sara Parkin, OBE, pictured, a Founder Director of Forum for the Future with Jonathon Porritt, will be giving a talk entitled 'Every Day is Women's Day' from 1pm to 2pm. After starting her working life as a nurse, she has campaigned for the environment and sustainable development for over 40 years. In 2001 she was awarded an OBE for services to education and sustainability.

There are displays of Women in Science, you can have coffee and cake to support the charities Breast Cancer Care and EMBRACE, and even have a free Indian head massage.

To book on individual events or attend the whole day please visit: www.keele.ac.uk/keeleunity/internationalwomensday

POLITICAL PARTIES: WHO NEEDS THEM?

Professor Kurt Richard Luther this week gave the latest lecture in the University's series of professorial Inaugural Lectures. 

In his lecture, "Political Parties: Who Needs them?" Professor Luther, Comparative Politics, said political parties had for over 100 years played a central role in the theory and practice of modern democracy, constituting a vital link between the demos and the politicians to whom the exercise of the affairs of the state is temporarily entrusted.

He said: "There is thus much to be said for Schattschneider's 1942 dictum that 'democracy is unthinkable save in terms of … parties'. Yet political parties have always been contested institutions. The media frequently portrays them as at best untrustworthy and at worst corrupt, whilst even nuanced academic analyses assert that they are becoming increasingly redundant."

Drawing on his work on contemporary western European party politics, Professor Luther explored current research into the changing role of political parties, identified the main challenges they faced and considered their likely future shape. He concluded with proposals for the future direction of party research, arguing amongst other things for the adoption of a more-actor-centric approach.

The picture shows Professor Luther receiving a commemorative plaque from the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, who chaired the event.

The other lectures in the series are:

Tuesday, 20 March, 2012, Professor Robert Ladrech, Politics, "Political Parties and the European Project"; Tuesday, 17 April, 2012, Professor Robin Jeffries, Astrophysics, "A star is born"; Tuesday, 8 May, 2012, Professor Carole Thornley, Management, "Why are the low-paid always with us?"; Monday, 11 June,  2012, Professor Andy Hassell, Medicine, "The patient with arthritis, the medical student and the rheumatologist: influencing tomorrow's doctors".

TOP PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE FOR KEELE ACADEMIC

Keele academic, Professor Andrew Dobson, won a top prize in the Keele University Three Counties Open Photography Competition 2012.

He was placed second in the competition for his entry 'Libertad'.

Photographers from Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire were praised for the excellent quality of the work submitted. They entered more than 270 photographs for the Open Photography Exhibition, which was opened this week by Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Pat Bailey, and runs until 29 March.  The winning entries were among 128 works selected for showing.

The picture shows Professor Dobson, left, with his prize-winning entry and Professor Bailey.

First prize winner was Danny Beath, of Shrewsbury, for his photograph, 'The Welsh Marches'.

NOMINATED FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE

Nominations for Keele University Excellence Awards in Learning and Teaching have this year topped more than 100.

Each year students are invited to nominate teachers that have been inspirational and/or outstanding in their support for student learning.

This year, nominations were also invited from academic colleagues to acknowledge the support and positive impact that peers have on one another's teaching practice.

During the three month nomination period 106 staff were nominated, by individuals and groups of students and staff, for their contribution to the student learning experience at Keele.

Nominations frequently referred to the support and help they had received, the expert knowledge and enthusiasm of great teachers and their ability to make time for student queries. A full list of this year's nominees and more details about the Keele Excellence Awards in Learning and Teaching can be found here.

CONSPIRACY THEORY AND GLOBAL HEALTH

Dr Mark Featherstone, Sociology, gave an invited public lecture at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on Tuesday, on the relationship between conspiracy theory and global health.

The seminar, which was attended by academics from the School and members of global public health agencies, such as the World Health Organisation, was concerned with the relationship between globalisation, conspiratorial thought, panics about contamination and infection, and the ways in which these can undermine public health initiatives.

HEAD OF SCHOOL DELIVERS LECTURE AT INNER TEMPLE

Dr Andrew Francis, Head of the School of Law, gave a lecture to over 200 students and Benchers of Inner Temple - one of the four Inns of Court.

In his lecture, 'Access to the Legal Profession - Social Mobility in an Age of Austerity', Dr Francis argued that much of the recent progress on diversity in the legal profession is at risk due to a series of challenges facing higher education and the legal profession. He also urged current students to take steps to affect change through work with schools and colleges and to continue their commitment to social mobility following their own entry to the legal profession.

Dr Francis was introduced by the Reader of Inner Temple, Simon Thorley, QC, and the speech forms part of the close ties being developed between the Inn and universities during Dr Francis' time as one of the first five Academic Fellows of Inner Temple.

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL EDUCATION

The School of Law this week hosted a lunchtime event designed to celebrate and explore the Internationalisation of Legal Education at Keele. The event drew on the perspectives of home and international law students and staff and students studying domestic and International law at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

The students reflected upon the enhancement of their understanding of law in a globalised era through their local outreach work with refugee communities in Stoke-on-Trent, and international experiences through undergraduate study abroad and the postgraduate exchange with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Students also explored ways in which to take forward the newly constituted International Law Society.

Head of School, Dr Andrew Francis, said: "The School benefits a great deal in learning from the interchange of home and international students' learning experiences and the discussions in today's event were a great reminder of how legal studies can be enhanced by these international perspectives."

The event highlighted how an internationalised perspective can enhance the study of law in domestic, regional and international jurisdictions. Such internationalised learning can be explored within the study abroad opportunities available on the Dual Honours and Single Honours programmes at Keele, through the international law modules available at Levels 2 and 3, and through the opportunities that Keele students have to study Human Rights, Globalisation and Justice at Masters Level.

GETTING TO GRIPS

Outreach & Widening Participation this week rounded off their 'Get to Grips With…'  project for another academic year.

The project, which aims to host a number of intensive master classes every Wednesday afternoon from November to February for Key Stage 5 learners, has seen 133 young people on campus over the last four months.

The Gifted and Talented 16, 17 & 18 year olds, got to grips with many subject areas, from Madness as a Theme in the Written Word, with Dr James Peacock, Cracking Codes, with Dr Paul Truman, to Nursing, with Dr Wynne Thomas, and Chemical Analysis, with Dr Jane Essex.

Amy Thomson was the student leader on all master classes, which concluded with a campus tour. The project, which sees learners sign up for the master classes independently of their schools, is set to recommence in November.

LEIBNIZ PRIZE WINNER VISITS KEELE

Professor Rainer Forst, Frankfurt, recipient of this year's Leibniz Prize, was one of the speakers at the recent "Toleration and Pragmatism" Conference organised by the Keele Forum for Philosophical Research. The Leibniz Prize, the highest German research prize, consists of a 2.5-million Euros grant to be used within seven years. He is also the director of a 35-million Euros project, called the Excellence Cluster on "The Formation of Normative Orders", which involves about 200 researches.

Professor Forst also had a meeting with the Philosophy Programme Director, Sorin Baiasu, to discuss possible joint projects with the Forum for Philosophical Research, the research unit for Keele philosophy.

NEW ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT

The following academic appointment commenced in post this week:

Keele Management School

Dr Emma Bell has been appointed a Professor in Keele Management School and was previously a School Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies at the University of Exeter.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Twenty-seven years ago -
 
Aspects of medical and surgical scientific advances were discussed by Professor James Brown Elder, Professor of Surgery in the Department of Postgraduate Medicine, in his inaugural lecture on 6 March 1985.