New Year's Honours 2022

Saturday 1st Jan 2022, 6.38am

Professor Irene Tracey FMedSci, MAE, Professor of Anaesthetic Neuroscience and Warden of Merton College, has been appointed CBE for services to medical research.  

Professor Tracey said: ‘I am utterly surprised by this honour, and truly delighted that my past and present team’s research to understand the brain mechanisms underpinning the major medical health problem of chronic pain has been recognised in this way. 

I am so fortunate to work with such a dedicated group of globally drawn scientists and clinicians, and I am so grateful to Oxford University and my various colleges for all the support over the years. I’d particularly like to thank our children, Colette, John and Jim, and of course my husband, Professor Myles Allen, all of whom have been instrumental in my career – I’m so thrilled that he was recognised this year too.’

Professor Tracey held until recently the Nuffield Chair of Anaesthetic Sciences, was Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences and was Director of the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB – now WIN), amongst other academic roles within the University. 

She returned to her alma mater in 2019 as the 51st Warden of Merton College. Professor Tracey has served on the Council of the UKRI Medical Research Council since 2017 and is President-elect of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies. She is a passionate advocate for women in science and her team is internationally recognised for their contributions to neuroimaging and pain neuroscience.

Professor Jonathan Michie is Professor of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange and President of Kellogg College at the University of Oxford, where he also led Continuing Education for over 13 years. He has been appointed OBE for services to education and lifelong learning.

He was Co-Secretary of the Centenary Commission on Adult Education and is currently Chair of the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning, a member of the Management & Business Panel for REF2021 and Managing Editor of the International Review of Applied Economics.

 ‘The award is for “services to education and lifelong learning” – the successes I’ve been involved in have been due to colleagues at Oxford’s Continuing Education and Kellogg College, and with the Centenary Commission on Adult Education and the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning. I’m most grateful to them all!’ said Professor Michie.

Professor Myles Allen, FInstP, Professor of Geosystem Science in the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment and Department of Physics, a Fellow of Linacre College, and Director of the Oxford Net Zero initiative. has been appointed CBE for services to climate change attribution, prediction and net zero.

He is a long-standing contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, most recently as a Coordinating Lead Author of the 2018 Special Report on 1.5°C, and initiated the climateprediction.net and weatherathome projects, using computing resources donated by the public to quantify uncertainty in climate predictions and the links between climate change and extreme weather.

‘All climate research is a team endeavour, and this is particularly true of the net zero journey. The need for net zero carbon dioxide emissions to halt global warming was a scientific curiosity only a decade ago: now 90% of the world economy is pledged to achieve it within the next few decades.’

‘I’m honoured to have played my part, along with so many brilliant collaborators and students both here in Oxford and around the world. I’m especially pleased to be recognised, coincidentally, in the same year as my wife, Professor Irene Tracey, and to take this opportunity to thank all those who have helped us keep two academic careers going: family, colleagues and, most of all, Irene herself and our three children.’ Said Professor Allen.

Professor Richard Haynes, RECOVERY trial coordinator, has been appointed MBE for services to Global Health.

‘I am excited, flattered and embarrassed to receive this honour. I am only receiving this because of the incredible efforts of my friends and colleagues in the RECOVERY team and wider university. I dedicate it to them, and to all our collaborators at hospitals in the NHS and around the world who have given themselves to this effort. 

‘COVID-19 has brought out the best in health services staff everywhere and I am very proud to be a small part of that. Above all, I would like to thank all of our participants who so bravely took the decision to participate in such difficult circumstances without whose contribution RECOVERY could not succeed.’ Said Professor Richard Haynes 

Lucy Fletcher, Senior Clinical Trial Manager, has been appointed MBE for services to Clinical Trials

‘It is a privilege to receive this honour for services to Clinical Trials. My recent involvement in the management of the RECOVERY trial of treatments for COVID-19 has been an extraordinary and hugely rewarding experience. 

I am delighted to have had the opportunity to contribute to what has been such an important and impactful collaboration. I feel very fortunate to work with many incredibly dedicated and supportive colleagues and although I am extremely grateful to receive this personal recognition, it is undoubtedly a reflection of the efforts of our entire team.’ Said Lucy Fletcher