Rahul Roychoudhuri awarded prestigious Lister Prize

The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine has selected Babraham Institute group leader, Dr Rahul Roychoudhuri, to receive a Lister Institute Research Prize Fellowship. The £200,000 prize aims to 'make a real difference' to biomedical research by supporting outstanding young independent researchers. This prestigious award is presented annually and Lister Prize Fellows have gone on to become respected leaders in their fields, with many later joining the Fellowship of the Royal Society.

Rahul Roychoudhuri joined the Babraham Institute in September 2015. He leads a team investigating how the immune system is regulated and suppressed by a process called peripheral tolerance. Faults in this process can cause the immune system to become over active, which can contribute to autoimmune diseases and severe allergic reactions. Similar mechanisms are also important in some cancers.

Speaking about the Prize, Dr Roychoudhuri said: "It's an honour to be recognised by the Lister Institute and to join such a respected fellowship. I look forward to getting started on the new research this award will help to support and I hope that what we learn will change our understanding of the immune system."

The Prize will support Dr Roychoudhuri to utilise powerful new genetic screening approaches to identify the functions of key genes. His goal is to examine how gene regulators cause changes to T cells in the immune system to control peripheral tolerance and immunosuppression. If we can understand this process, it could help to treat autoimmune diseases, where the immune system attacks healthy cells in the body. This work could also reveal how some cancer cells use similar mechanisms to avoid detection by the immune system.

Director of the Babraham Institute, Professor Michael Wakelam, said: "Rahul is a rising star in his field and I'm thrilled that the quality of his work has been recognised by the Lister Institute. The Lister Prize can be a real boost to the career of outstanding young scientists and I am confident that Rahul will make the most of this opportunity."

Provided by Babraham Institute