Glasgow University professor awarded prestigious medal

Academic Iain McInnes given the Sir James Black Prize Medal in recognition of his work in immunology

Published 19th May 2016

A professor at a Scottish university has been awarded a prestigious medical medal in recognition of "his outstanding contribution to the field of immunology''.

Professor Iain McInnes, the Muirhead Professor of Medicine and director of the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation at Glasgow University, has been awarded the Sir James Black Prize Medal by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

A university spokesman said Prof McInnes is a leading figure in global research into rheumatoid arthritis whose work has been influential in new approaches and treatments to inflammatory disease.

Prof McInnes said: "This is an unexpected but highly-appreciated honour from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

"It reflects the work of many friends and colleagues in the University of Glasgow and beyond who have worked tirelessly over the years as we have sought to understand and treat better the myriad diseases that can arise from the immune system in disorder.

"The Sir James Black Prize Medal is one of the very top awards that can be given in medicine. I feel honoured and humbled in equal measure.''

The medal is named after the Nobel prize-winning Scottish doctor and pharmacologist Sir James Black, who set up Glasgow University's physiology department before going on to develop betablockers to treat heart disease. He died in 2010 aged 85.