Leszek Borysiewicz

Sir Leszek K Borysiewicz, KBE, is a British physician, immunologist and scientific administrator. He is currently chief executive of the United Kingdom's Medical Research Council. [Nigel Hawkes, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2442009.ece Mobile phones don’t cause cancer - in the short-term. Long-term, who knows?] , "The Times", September 13, 2007] Roger Highfield, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/09/12/scimrc122.xml Medical Research Council's new head announced] , "The Daily Telegraph", September 12, 2007]

Borysiewicz studied medicine at Welsh National School of Medicine and received a Ph.D from the Royal Postgraduate Medical School. He pursued a career in academic medicine at the University of Cambridge and then as a consultant at Hammersmith Hospital. He then headed the Department of Medicine at the University of Wales before joining Imperial College London, where he was promoted to Deputy Rector responsible "for the overall academic and scientific direction of the College," [http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/aboutimperial/rectorandprincipalofficers/professorsirleszekborysiewicz Rector and Principal Officers » Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz] , Imperial College London website, Retrieved September 22, 2007] In September 2007, it was reported he would succeed Colin Blakemore as the 9th head of the Medical Research Council, a national organisation that supports medical science with an annual budget of around £500 million.

Borysiewicz's research focuses on viral immunology, infectious disease, and viral-induced cancer. He has co-authored and co-edited a number of books on these subjects, including "Vaccinations" (ISBN 0198516274). In the 2001 New Years Honours List he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to vaccine research [ [http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/honorary-fellows-2006.html Honorary Fellows 2006] , University of Cardiff, July 3, 2006] In 2002 he was awarded the Moxon Trust Medal of the Royal College of Physicians. He is also a Governor of the Wellcome Trust, a council member of Cancer Research UK, a founding fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences [ [http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/people/l.borysiewicz/activities/ Sir Leszek K Borysiewicz professional activities] , Imperial College London website, Retrieved September 22, 2007] and co-chair of the MRC's advisory group on stem cell research.

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