Alumni honoured in the New Year Honours 2023

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Professor Nigel Cunliffe
Professor Nigel Cunliffe OBE

A number of leading University of Liverpool alumni were recently conferred with honours in the New Year Honours 2023, the first to be awarded by King Charles III.

Among those awarded, the University of Liverpool’s Professor Nigel Cunliffe (Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene 1991, PhD Medical Microbiology 2001) (pictured above) was awarded an OBE for services to infectious disease and vaccine research.

Professor Cunliffe is currently Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Gastrointestinal Infections, Director of the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Gastrointestinal Infections, and an NIHR Senior Investigator. In these roles he works with academic and public health colleagues to reduce the population burden of infectious intestinal disease in the UK and Africa. Professor Cunliffe’s work in Malawi over the past 25 years, has played a key role in introducing life-saving vaccines against rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and young children, across Africa.

Professor Cunliffe joined the University of Liverpool in 1996 as a Wellcome Research Training Fellow in Clinical Tropical Medicine, based at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research-Programme in Blantyre, Malawi. He obtained his PhD at the University in 2001, was appointed Professor of Medical Microbiology in 2011 and works as an honorary consultant medical microbiologist at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Cunliffe said: “I am deeply honoured by this award, which reflects the unwavering support that I have received from my family, friends, colleagues and research team over many years. Diarrhoeal diseases remain a leading cause of global illness and death, and I am humbled that our multidisciplinary research programme, which strives to reduce suffering especially among disadvantaged populations, has been recognised through this honour.”

Among other notable awards, honorary graduates Dr Gee Walker (Hon LLD 2012), founder and patron of The Anthony Walker Foundation was awarded an MBE for services to Diversity and Racial Injustice, while Emeritus Professor Dame Hermione Lee (Hon LittD 2002) received a GBE for services to English Literature.

We would like to congratulate all of our alumni who received honours in the New Year Honours 2023. The full list of those recognised for their outstanding contributions is detailed here:

  • Professor Nigel Cunliffe (Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene 1991, PhD Medical Microbiology 2001): Professor of Medical Microbiology, University of Liverpool and Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust; OBE for services to Infectious Disease and Vaccine research.
  • Geoff Hawley (BDS 1967): BEM for services to the community in Cheshire
  • Karen Howell (MSc Ethics of Health Care 1999): Chief Executive, Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust; OBE for services to Healthcare.
  • Professor Dame Hermione Lee (Hon LittD 2002): Emeritus Professor of English Literature, University of Oxford; GBE for services to English Literature.
  • Dr Gee Walker (Hon LLD 2012): Founder and Patron, The Anthony Walker Foundation; MBE for services to Diversity and Racial Injustice.
  • Pauline Weatherall (BSc Hons Geology 1987): Digital Atlas Manager, National Oceanography Centre; MBE for services to Bathymetry.
  • Dr Nina Baker DL (PhD Building Engineering 1991): OBE for services to the History of Women in Engineering.
  • Patrick Bradley (BA Hons Psychology 1975): Chief Executive Officer, Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership; MBE for services to the Local Economy and to the community in Wiltshire.
  • Richard Hanley (BA Hons Music 1984, Certificate in Education 1985): Music Teacher, Thomas Mills High School, Framlingham, Suffolk; BEM for services to Education.
  • Meryl Hayward (MBA 2012): Director, Corporate Services, Historic England; MBE for services to Heritage.