Two College Fellows will recieve Queen's Birthday Honours.
Professor Calum Semple: Professor Semple, who works at the University of Liverpool, will receive an OBE for his services to the COVID-19 response. As a Member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), Professor Semple has played a key role in advising the UK Government on COVID-19. He also leads a major national COVID-19 research study and has appeared regularly as an expert in the media throughout the pandemic. Having dedicated most of his career to studying disease outbreaks, including HIV, MERS and Ebola, he has been a leading expert during the COVID-19 crisis.
As the Chief Investigator of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK (CCP-UK), Professor Semple and his colleagues have collected, distributed and analysed thousands of COVID-19 specimens over the past nine months. The results have helped inform the outbreak response and patient care, not just in the UK but internationally, and will continue to do so.
Professor David J Webb MD: Professor Webb, who is a leading international cardiovascular researcher, physician and pharmacologist based in Edinburgh – will be awarded a CBE for services to clinical pharmacology research and education. Professor Webb currently works in the field of hypertension and kidney disease, and runs Edinburgh’s Hypertension Excellence Centre. His research on blood pressure, arterial stiffness and endothelial function has contributed to the development of new medicines for the treatment of heart disease including renin inhibitors, phosphodiesterase inhibitors and endothelin antagonists.
He established the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cardiovascular Science and Clinical Research Centre, and has been President of the British Pharmacological Society, having won their SKB Silver Medal for Research and Lilly Gold Medal for leadership in Clinical Pharmacology. Professor Webb was also central to the development of the UK Prescribing Safety Assessment examination, administered by the British Pharmacological Society together with the Medical Schools Council, now taken by over 8,000 medical students each year, and which has to be passed for career progression.
In Scotland, Professor Webb has been Chair of the Scottish Medicines Consortium, President of the Scottish Society of Physicians and Vice-President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
