Scientist elected President of the Academy of Medical Sciences

Professor Dame Anne Johnson has been elected as the next Academy of Medical Sciences President, vowing to "create an environment where high-quality health research can thrive" and ensure "global collaboration continues to flourish". Dame Anne will be the sixth Academy President and will take over the post from Professor Sir Robert Lechler on 3 December 2020. Presidents of the Academy of Medical Sciences serve for up to five years. Dame Anne is Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at UCL Division of Infection & Immunity and Co-Director of UCL Health of the Public. Commenting on her appointment, she said: "It is an absolute honour to be elected President of the Academy of Medical Sciences at a time when medical research couldn't be more crucial to people's heath in the UK and globally. "The pandemic has reminded us all just how precious our health and wellbeing is and has highlighted the importance of independent evidence, and integration of the clinical, public health, social and discovery science responses to a health and societal challenge of unprecedented scale in our lifetime. "I will lead the Academy to create an environment where the full spectrum of high-quality health research can thrive and networks are created between leading researchers throughout the UK and globally.