Fellow elected President of the Surgical Research Society
Friday 10 February 2023
Members of the Surgical Research Society (SRS) have elected a Fellow of St Catharine’s to serve as their President from March 2023. Professor Michael Nicholson (2018) is Professor of Transplant Surgery and Head of the Division of Academic General & Transplant Surgery at the University of Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and his surgical expertise was recently the focus of an episode of the BBC’s ‘Surgeons: At the Edge of Life’ documentary series.
Professor Nicholson commented, “It is a great honour to have been appointed to the Presidency and I have plans to grow the membership and improve the financial status of the SRS. There are also plans to hold the next annual meeting of the SRS in Cambridge.”
Professor Michael Nicholson (credit: Kidney Research UK/PA)
The SRS was founded in 1954 and is the oldest and most prestigious forum for surgical research in the UK. Its membership includes the UK’s most distinguished professorial and senior academic surgeons but one of its important aims is to encourage surgeons in training to present laboratory and clinical research.
There is a particular focus on presenting work in progress so that the trainees can benefit from the advice of more senior researchers. The annual meeting of the SRS provides an opportunity to meet other research groups in the UK and abroad. The Society also has a significant role in education through its trainee network.
A number of prizes and awards are presented annually by the SRS including the Patey Prize, which is widely considered as the highest award for surgical research in Great Britain and Ireland. The 2022 Patey Prize was won by Serena MacMillan BA (Cantab), a PhD student in Professor Nicholson’s group at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, for her work on changing the blood groups of human kidneys.
The SRS has links with other important surgical research forums in the USA, Europe and South Africa. The SRS is also a platform for addressing pertinent medico-political issues, including surgical training and has close links with the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
