Prof. Ian Ganley, Group Leader in the MRC PPU, is the recipient of the 2025 Hooke Medal from the British Society of Cell Biology (BSCB).
The Hooke Medal is awarded every year by the BSCB and is given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to UK Cell Biology and is within 14 years of starting their research group. The award is named after Robert Hooke, the renowned 17th century natural philosopher who coined the term cell in his book Micrographia, the first scientific best-seller to include illustrations of plants and animals as seen through the microscope. The medal is presented at the annual BSCB meeting, and the awardee then delivers a lecture.
Ian has contributed to our understanding of autophagy, an intracellular “self-eating” pathway that prevents the accumulation of damaged and toxic cellular junk. A failure in autophagy is thought to lead to many diseases ranging from various cancers to neurodegeneration, including Parkinson’s Disease. Ian’s lab is working to understand the molecular details of this pathway in the hopes of finding new therapeutic approaches.
Ian will receive his medal and deliver The Hooke Medal prize lecture at the Biologists @ 100 conference in Liverpool, which is being held jointly between BSCB and The company of Biologists in March 2025.
Ian commented “I am deeply honoured to receive this award. While I have certainly stood on the shoulders of giants to get to this stage in my career, I would not be anywhere close if it wasn’t for the hard work and dedication of my lab, both past and present, the support of colleagues, mentors, and of course family”
Dario Alessi, Director of the MRC PPU, expressed his excitement, stating, “I am absolutely thrilled for Ian and his exceptionally talented, dedicated research team on receiving this highly prestigious award. Their work has significantly advanced our understanding of the machinery that regulates autophagy and mitophagy, shedding light on their critical links to human diseases such as Parkinson’s. The MitoQC technology developed by Ian’s group has not only revolutionized the assessment of mitophagy but has also become a widely adopted tool, utilized by hundreds of research teams worldwide.”
