Ronald Alfred Laskey (born 26 January 1945) is a British cell biologist and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

researcher.

Career and research

Laskey was the Charles Darwin Professor of Embryology at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In 1991, he co-founded the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

/Cancer Research Campaign Institute (now known as the Wellcome Trust/ Cancer Research UK

Gurdon Institute The Gurdon Institute (officially the Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute) is a research facility at the University of Cambridge, specialising in developmental biology and cancer biology. History The Institute was founded in 1989 to prov ...

), along with five other senior scientists including Professor Sir John Gurdon. In 2001, he founded the Medical Research Council Cancer Cell Unit in 2001, and was Director of the Unit until 2010. Laskey is also a Fellow of

Darwin College, Cambridge Darwin College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded on 28 July 1964, Darwin was Cambridge University's first graduate-only college, and also the first to admit both men and women. The college is named after one of the ...

Awards and honours

Laskey was appointed

Commander of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 ''New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...

. Other significant honours include the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Royal Medal, for his "pivotal contributions to our understanding of the control of DNA replication and nuclear protein transport, which has led to a novel screening method for cancer diagnosis", and the Cancer Research UK Lifetime Achievement Prize. * 1984: Elected Fellow of the

. * 1998: Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine. * 2000: ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

'' award for health innovation. * 2001: Croonian Lecture. * 2009:

Royal Society Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

. * 2011: Received an

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the New Year Honours list for services to Science. * 2014: Cancer Research UK Lifetime Achievement In Cancer Research Prize

Personal life

Laskey married Margaret Ann Page in 1971. Laskey is an author, composer and singer of (mostly) science-based humorous songs, in the tradition of Tom Lehrer. Various combinations of these songs were published by the Cold Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press in three records: "Songs for Cynical Scientists" (audio cassette), ''More Songs for Cynical Scientists'' and ''Selected Songs for Cynical Scientists'' (CDs). Only the last-mentioned record is still available.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laskey, Ronald Alfred 1945 births Living people People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Royal Medal winners Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) 20th-century British biologists 21st-century British biologists British medical researchers Cancer researchers Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire