Prof. Niru (Nirthanan) Selvanaayagam becomes Fellow for British Pharmacological Society
Distinguished Tamils
British Pharmacological Society has recently announced its list of Fellows and Honorary Fellows for the year 2021. 14 Honorary Fellows and 26 Fellows have been elected this time around.
Honorary Fellows are elected for life in recognition of sustained excellence and leadership in science, healthcare, and public service.
Fellows have demonstrated distinction and peer recognition in pharmacology, through their work, publication and presentation of research, leadership, and contribution to Society life.
“Fellows and Honorary Fellows play an incredibly important role in the Society. Through their work, they further all disciplines of pharmacology in the discovery, development and use of medicines. Through their leadership, and contribution to Society life, they inspire and support members at earlier stages of their career or study. Please join us in congratulating our newly elected Fellows and Honorary Fellows” , said the Society’s publication.
Prof Nirthanan is the Deputy Head for Learning & Teaching in the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, and Discipline Lead for Pharmacology in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. After graduating MBBS, he completed his PhD in Pharmacology and Biochemistry at the National University of Singapore (2002) and postdoctoral fellowship as the Alice and Joseph Brooks Fellow in Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, Boston (2002-2006). He was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 2020. His contributions to pharmacology education have been recognised by the BPS Rang Prize for Clinical Pharmacology (2021) and an Australian Government Learning and Teaching Citation (2011); as well as Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (UK) (2018), and Fellowships of the ASPET Academy of Pharmacology Educators (USA) (2021) and the Academy of Medical Educators (UK) (2021). He also serves as an Academic Ambassador, Lead for the International Pharmacology Network and on the International Advisory Group for the BPS, and on the Executive Committee for the Division for Pharmacology Education at ASPET.
Prof. Niru Selvanayakam is the son of late Professor Somasundaram Selvanayagam (28 May 1932 – 23 May 1979) who was a Ceylon Tamil geographer, academic and head of the Department of Geography at the University of Jaffna.
Honorary Fellowships
- Dame Kate Bingham, SV Health Investors LLP
- Jonathan Bruun, Royal College of Anaesthetists
- Professor Brenda Costall, Formerly University of Bradford
- Dr Clive Dix, C4X Discovery Plc
- Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, University of Oxford
- Professor Roland Jones, University of Bath
- Dr Melanie Lee, LifeArc
- Professor Ian McFadzean, King’s College London
- Professor Graeme Milligan, University of Glasgow
- Professor Jane Mitchell, Imperial College London
- Sir Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca
- Professor Robin Plevin, University of Strathclyde
- Professor Anthony Smith, University of Newcastle
- Professor Susan Wonnacott, University of Bath
Fellowships
- Dr Dorothy Aidulis, STEM Scotland Ltd
- Dr Sarah Bailey, University of Bath
- Professor Victoria Chapman, University of Nottingham
- Dr Brian Cox, Uniformed Services University
- Professor Sven-Erik Dahlén, Karolinska Institute
- Professor Colin Davidson, University of Central Lancashire
- Dr Colin Dourish, P1vital
- Dr Ahmed El-Hashim, Kuwait University
- Dr Jane Escott, AstraZeneca
- Professor Samuel Fountain, University of East Anglia
- Dr Andrew Hitchings, St George’s, University of London
- Dr Vanessa Ho, St George’s, University of London
- Dr Simon Hollingsworth, AstraZeneca
- Dr Niall Hyland, University College Cork and APC Microbiome Ireland
- Dr Phil Jeffrey, Bicycle Therapeutics
- Dr Emma Kidd, Cardiff University
- Professor Vincenzo Libri, University College London
- Dr Selvanayagam (Niru) Nirthanan, Griffith University
- Dr Esther O’Shea, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- Professor Kevin Pfleger, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research
- Dr Sarah Pontefract, University of Birmingham
- Professor Mike Rieder, University of Western Ontario
- Dr Matthias Schwab, Dr Margarete Fischer Bosch Institute for Clinical Pharmacology
- Dr James Paul Spiers, Trinity College Dublin
- Dr Fiona Thomson, Glasgow University
- Dr Derek Trezise, Sartorius
Find out more about Fellowship and Honorary Fellowship