Professor Anant Parekh from Oxford University has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, the UK's distinguished body of Science that includes Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Rutherford, Stephen Hawking and Ramanujan as its former members.
Anant is currently Professor of Physiology at Oxford and a Fellow of Merton College. His research investigates how cells in the body communicate with one another, with an emphasis on how hormones and other chemicals control important biological functions such as secretion, energy production and gene expression. He is particularly interested in applying his research to understand allergies and asthma.
Anant's work has transformed our understanding of how cells send information to one another and how such information can be used to activate specific physiological targets. His work is also leading to the development of new drugs that target a specific type of protein, called a calcium channel, for therapeutic use in asthma. He has received several awards for his research, including the Wellcome and GL Brown Prizes in Physiology in recognition of his seminal contributions to the fields of cell biology.
On hearing about his election as a fellow, Professor Parekh told Asian Voice, "It is of course both humbling and a great honour to be elected to the Royal Society. However, nothing occurs in a vacuum and this really reflects the wonderful mentors I have had at key stages in my career, the support from the Department over many years and the excellent young scientists who have worked and continue to work in my group, without whom this election would not have been possible.”
Anant’s father Lord Bhikhu Parekh is the Professor of Political Theory at Hull. In 2003, Lord Parekh was elected to the British Academy, the humanities equivalent of the Royal Society. It is very rare for both a father and son to be in these learned societies at the same time.
