Roy M. Anderson Explained

Sir Roy Anderson
Birth Name:Roy Malcolm Anderson
Birth Date:12 April 1947[1]
Birth Place:Hertfordshire,[2] England, UK
Nationality:British
Fields:Epidemiology
Biomathematics
Workplaces:Imperial College London
King's College London
University of Oxford
Ministry of Defence
Education:Richard Hale School
Alma Mater:Imperial College London (BSc, PhD)
Doctoral Advisor:George Murdie[3]
Doctoral Students:Sunetra Gupta
Angela Mclean[4]
Known For:
Thesis Title:A quantitative ecological study of the helminth parasites of the bream Abramis brama
Thesis Url:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.363435
Thesis Year:1971
Awards:Chalmers Medal (1988)
Weldon Memorial Prize (1989)
Croonian Lecture (1994)

Sir Roy Malcolm Anderson (born 12 April 1947) is a leading international authority on the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases. He is the author, with Robert May, of the most highly cited book in this field, entitled . His early work was on the population ecology of infectious agents before focusing on the epidemiology and control of human infections. His published research includes studies of the major viral, bacterial and parasitic infections of humans, wildlife and livestock.[5] [6] [7] This has included major studies on HIV, SARS, foot and mouth disease, bovine tuberculosis, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), influenza A, antibiotic resistant bacteria, the neglected tropical diseases and most recently COVID-19. Anderson is the author of over 650 peer-reviewed scientific articles with an h-index of 125.

Education and early life

Anderson was born the son of James Anderson and Betty Watson-Weatherburn. He attended Duncombe School, Bengeo and Richard Hale School. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology at Imperial College London followed by a PhD in parasitology in 1971.[8] [9]

Controversies

Anderson resigned from the University of Oxford after admitting that he had falsely alleged that a colleague, Sunetra Gupta, had won a position by having an affair with her head of department.[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] He also resigned from the Wellcome Trust.[16] [17] Gupta demanded a public apology [18] which the male scientist later gave.[19] He then went to Imperial College London[20]

Career and research

He moved to the Biomathematics Department at the University of Oxford as an IBM research fellow working on stochastic models of infectious disease spread under Professor Maurice Bartlett FRS. He was appointed to a Lectureship in Parasitology at King's College London in 1974 before moving back to Imperial as a lecturer in Ecology and then becoming Professor of Parasite Ecology in 1982. He was head of the Department of Biology from 1984 to 1993. At Imperial College, he also served as Director of the Wellcome Centre for Parasite Infections from 1989 to 1993.

In 1993 Anderson moved to the University of Oxford where he was head of the Zoology department and held the Linacre Chair of Zoology at Merton College, Oxford until 2000. During this time he founded and served as Director of the Wellcome Centre for the Epidemiology of Infectious Disease - the first such centre in the UK entirely focused on research into the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases - until he resigned "following two damning reports on the way that the centre has been managed", however the director of the Wellcome Trust noted that there was "“no question of the scientific credibility of Roy Anderson or the centre. It is doing first class work and our priority is to maintain that.”.[21] His former doctoral students include Angela Mclean[4] and Sunetra Gupta.

Chief Scientific Advisor of the Ministry of Defence

He was chief scientific advisor to the UK Ministry of Defence from October 2004 to September 2007. After that, he returned to his chair in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London.[22]

Rector of Imperial College

Anderson was appointed the 14th Rector of Imperial College on 1 July 2008. In his time as Rector he focused on strengthening the emphasis on teaching as well as world renown research at Imperial, and on securing a new site in the White City, West London, to facilitate the expansion of Imperial's molecular and biomedical research, halls of residence, support for innovation and entrepreneurship and teaching facilities. He also negotiated the first overseas campus venture for Imperial in partnership with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore which led to the creation of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore designed to train doctors to meet Singapore Healthcare needs. He tendered his resignation in November 2009 stating his wish to return to his primary interest in scientific research on global health issues.

Director of the London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research

He established the London Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases (LCNTDR) in 2013. The LCNTDR was launched with the aim of providing focused operational and research support for NTD control. The LCNTDR member institutions house leading NTD experts with a wide range of specialties, making the centre a valuable resource for cross-sectoral research and collaboration. It is a joint initiative between the Royal Veterinary College, Imperial College London, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and the Natural History Museum, London.

Membership of Councils, Boards and Committees (National and International)

He has sat on numerous government and international agency committees advising on public health and disease control including the World Health Organization, The European Commission, UNAIDS, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He is currently a Vice-President of Fauna Flora International, Chairman of Oriole Global Health Limited, Director of the London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Trustee of the Banga Trust and a Trustee of the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences.

He was a non-executive director of GlaxoSmithKline 2008–2018, a member of the International Advisory Board of Hakluyt and Company Ltd. 2008–2019, and Chairman of the International Advisory Board of PTTGC Company Thailand, 2014–2018.

Other memberships:

Selected publications

Honours and awards

Anderson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1986,[23] and was knighted in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours list. Other awards and honours include:

Personal life

Anderson married Janet Meyrick in April 2014 and has three step-children.

He enjoys walking, travel to remote destinations, natural history, conservation and wildlife photography.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Curriculum Vitae . Imperial College London . 2009-03-20 .
  2. Book: Sleeman, Elizabeth . The International Who's Who 2004 . Routledge . 2003 . 978-1-85743-217-6 . registration .
  3. George Murdie Obituary . Imperial College London Reporter . 197 . 31 October 2008 . 17 December 2012.
  4. Mathematical models of the epidemiology of measles in developing countries. 10044/1/47259. Imperial College London. 1987. 20 February 2023. Angela Ruth. McLean. PhD. . 1001138698.
  5. http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/72 Freeview Video 'The Epidemic of Mad Cow Disease (BSE) in the UK, Roy Anderson — a Royal Institution Discourse by the Vega Science Trust
  6. http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/Content/Documents/Biographies/RoyAnderson.htm EPSRC biography
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20060712110451/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/nhonours117.xml Telegraph — Honours for those who 'work and serve at the sharp end'
  8. PhD. University of London. A quantitative ecological study of the helminth parasites of the bream (Abramis brama (L.)). Roy Malcolm. Anderson. 1971. . 10044/1/16195. imperial.ac.uk.
  9. Population Dynamics of the Cestode Caryophyllaeus laticeps (Pallas, 1781) in the Bream (Abramis brama L.). Roy M.. Anderson. Roy M. Anderson. Journal of Animal Ecology. 43. 1974. 305–321. 10.2307/3367. 2. 3367.
  10. Web site: ‘I’ve had emails calling me evil’... Meet the Covid scientists at war . 2020 . Samuel . Fishwick.
  11. Oxford epidemiologist wins apology for promotion slur . 10.1038/35016213 . 2000 . Loder . Natasha . Nature . 405 . 6789 . 872 . 10879499 . 4304810 . free .
  12. Top UK epidemiologist suspended after complaints . Nature . 403 . 353 . 2000 . 10.1038/35000388 . Loder . Natasha. free .
  13. Web site: Oxford scientist suspended . John . Ezard . 2000 . The Guardian.
  14. Web site: Imperial vs Oxford: Covid-19 rivalry may have roots in a sex smear two decades ago . 2020 .
  15. Web site: Science clash: Imperial vs Oxford, and the sex smear that created rival Covid-19 studies –Rivalry began two decades ago when leading lights of Imperial College and Oxford University worked together . Daniel . Foggo . Katherine . Rushton . Sophie . Barnes . 2020.
  16. Web site: Charity trustee resigns in probe . Oxford Mail .
  17. Anderson steps down from Wellcome over Oxford row . 10.1038/35000724 . 2000 . Loder . Natasha . Nature . 403 . 472. free .
  18. Web site: Wronged zoologist demands public apology . 2000 . Times Higher Education.
  19. Web site: Anderson apologises . 2000 . Times Higher Education.
  20. Web site: The Londoner: History behind Imperial and Oxford scientists rivalry . 2020 .
  21. Loder, N.. Director of Wellcome centre resigns over damning report. Nature . 404. 696 . 13 April 2000 . 10.1038/35008235 . free.
  22. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/rector/biography/ Prof. Anderson's Biography at Imperial College
  23. Web site: Sir Roy Anderson FMedSci FRS. https://web.archive.org/web/20151117015857/https://royalsociety.org/people/roy-anderson-10993/. 2015-11-17. Royal Society. London. royalsociety.org. Anon. 1986. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:

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