Robert J Wilkinson awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List for services to infectious disease research

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Honorary Professor Robert J Wilkinson, a professor at the Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM) has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List for services to infectious disease research. He is the Principal Group Leader at the Crick.

His award is allocated from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Developmental Office, and celebrates the contribution of individuals to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations and public service outside the civil service.

As well as running the Tuberculosis Laboratory at the Crick, Robert is a Professor in Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London and Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town, where he directs the university’s Wellcome Discovery Research Platform for Infection.

His laboratory at the Crick investigates the interaction between tuberculosis and the immune response, to find better ways to understand, prevent and treat the disease, particularly in those co-infected with HIV.

Together they aim to reduce the global burden of TB, one of the world’s most common diseases, which is responsible for about 1.3 million deaths each year.

Professor Wilkinson splits his time between the Crick and South Africa, where clinical trials are carried out to investigate how individual differences in the immune system affect how people respond to TB.

He also established the Crick Africa Network in 2017, transferring to the present network’s director Jean Langhorne in 2020. This partnership between the Crick and institutions in The Gambia, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda supports African scientists working in Africa.

Wilkinson said: “Although awards are made to individuals, in my case this reflects my fortune in working with many hundreds of excellent people over many years to foster high quality research and a good research culture. I am very grateful therefore to those colleagues who should interpret this as an endorsement of their great contribution and thank my nominator and those who supported that nomination.”

Paul Nurse, Chief Executive Officer at the Crick, said: “This award is recognition of Robert’s tireless dedication to find better ways to prevent and treat tuberculosis, crucially in areas of the world that are most impacted. His work setting up the Crick Africa Network further highlights his commitment to science which goes beyond national borders.”