Three Newcastle alumni elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society
Congratulations to the three Newcastle University graduates who have recently been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences.
10 June 2025
The three researchers from our alumni community are amongst 90 trailblazers to be recognised by the Royal Society this year.
Dr Andrew Singleton (PhD, 1999)
Andrew graduated from Newcastle University with a PhD in Neurology, focusing particularly on the genetic determinants of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. After graduating in 1999, Andrew headed to the US to join the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He worked at the National Institute on Aging at NIH from 2001 to earlier this year, ending his tenure there as Director of the Center for Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias.
Throughout his career, Andrew has published more than 750 articles and won numerous awards, including the Boehringer Mannheim Research Award in 2005 and the Jay van Andel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Parkinson’s Disease Research. His specialism is the genetic basis of neurodegenerative disorders, aiming to identify genetic variability that contributes to disease and understand the molecular processes underlying disease.
Today, Andrew is a member of numerous scientific advisory and editorials boards and a leader of the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program.
Image credit: Sunderland University
Dr Anthony Wood (BSc Chemistry, 1987; PhD, 1990)
Tony started his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1992, as a medicinal chemist at Pfizer, after completing a PhD in organic chemistry at Newcastle University and a postdoc at Imperial College. As a medicinal chemist, he invented the anti-HIV drug maraviroc, the first host-targeted HIV medicine.
Today, Tony is a highly respected scientist and one of the world’s pre-eminent medicinal chemists, with more than 30 years of experience working across diverse disciplines of R&D to deliver innovative medicines. He joined GSK from Pfizer in 2017 as Senior Vice President, Medicinal Science and Technology, responsible for all science and technology platforms supporting the delivery of new medicines.
Image credit: GSK
Professor Mohamed Hassan (BSc Pure Science, 1968)
Mohamed gained his undergraduate degree from Newcastle University before earning his DPhil in Mathematics from Oxford University and returning to his homeland of Sudan, where he established numerous scientific councils. This includes as founding Executive Director of the Academy of Science for the Developing World (TWAS), Organisation for Women in Science (OWSD), African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and Network of African Academies (NASAC).
Mohamed has published many articles on the mathematical models of plasma transport in nuclear fusion experiments and desert sand dynamics, as well as on science in the global south and international collaboration. Today, he is the President of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences.
Image credit: The Royal Society
Huge congratulations to Andrew, Tony and Mohamed for this global recognition of their impact!
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