Charles ffrench-Constant

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Charles ffrench-Constant
Born (1954-11-05) 5 November 1954 (age 69)[3]
Alma mater
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsNeurology
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge
University of Edinburgh
Thesis (1986)
Doctoral advisorMartin Raff

Charles Kenvyn ffrench-Constant FRCP[3] FMedSci[1] FRSE[2] is a neurology researcher, specialising in multiple sclerosis.[5] He has been recognised for his "fundamental and sustained contributions that underpin much contemporary research in developmental and regenerative neuroscience".[1]

Education and early career[edit]

ffrench-Constant gained an MA in Physiology from the University of Cambridge and an MB, BChir in Medicine from Middlesex Hospital in 1980.[4] As a graduate student in the laboratory of Martin Raff at University College London, ffrench-Constant discovered that there are small numbers of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) in cell suspensions prepared from adult rat optic nerves.[6][7] He gained his PhD in neuroscience from UCL in 1986. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he returned to Cambridge and took up a postdoctoral fellowship at the Wellcome/CRC institute (now the Gurdon Institute).[4]

Later career[edit]

ffrench-Constant started his own laboratory in Cambridge in 1991, focusing on developmental and regenerative biology.[5] From 1999–2007 he was Professor of Neurological Genetics at Cambridge. In 2007, he moved to become Professor of Medical Neurology at the University of Edinburgh. He has been co-Director of the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic since 2012 and from 2010–2015 was Director of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine.[8][9]

In March 2021, the University of East Anglia announced that ffrench-Constant had been appointed as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, starting June 2021.[10]

Awards and honours[edit]

ffrench-Constant was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2017, and as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2018.[1][2] He was awarded the Chancellor's Award for Research Excellence in 2019, in recognition of his outstanding research in the field of Neurobiology.[11]

Personal life[edit]

ffrench-Constant enjoys sailing and walking, and is a season ticket holder at Norwich City F.C.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Professor Charles ffrench-Constant | The Academy of Medical Sciences". acmedsci.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c "Professor Charles ffrench-Constant FMedSci FRSE". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 24 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Ffrench-Constant, Prof. Charles Kenvyn, (born 5 Nov. 1954), Professor of Medical Neurology, 2008–16, now Professorial Fellow, Co-Director, Centre for Multiple Sclerosis Research, since 2008, and Director, Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, since 2013, University of Edinburgh". Who's Who. 1 December 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U42277.
  4. ^ a b c "Charles ffrench-Constant". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Charles ffrench-Constant Research Group". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  6. ^ Raff, Martin. "Autobiography chapter" (PDF). Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  7. ^ ffrench-Constant, Charles; Raff, Martin C. (February 1986). "Proliferating bipotential glial progenitor cells in adult rat optic nerve". Nature. 319 (6053): 499–502. Bibcode:1986Natur.319..499F. doi:10.1038/319499a0. PMID 3945333. S2CID 4254924.
  8. ^ "History of CRM". The University of Edinburgh. May 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  9. ^ "New Director". The University of Edinburgh. May 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b "UEA appoints new Pro-Vice-Chancellor of medicine and health sciences - UEA". www.uea.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Professor Charles ffrench-Constant has received the 2019 Chancellor's Research Award". Edinburgh Neuroscience. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2020.