Ransom Lectures

A highlight of our seminar programme is the annual Ransom Lecture. These annual lectures are delivered by an international figure whose work bridges the divide between fundamental research and medicine.

Upcoming lectures:

There are currently no upcoming Ransom Lectures. Please check back at a later date.

Previous lecturers

The 100,000 Genomes Project

Presented by Mark Caulfied, Queen Mary University, London
21 March 2018

Sexual selection: sperm, eggs and fertility

Presented by Tim Birkhead FRS
26 April 2017

How old are bacterial pathogens?

Presented by Mark Achtman FRS, University of Warwick
16 March 2016

The science of healthy ageing

Presented by Linda Partridge FRS, University College London
4 March 2015

Congenital Malformations and Cancer Pathways: Unlocking the Secrets of the Testis

Presented by Andrew Wilkie FRS, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford
16 April 2014

See more previous lectures

From therapeutic antibodies to therapeutic bicycles

Presented by Sir Greg Winter CBE, FRS, FMedSci, University of Cambridge
1 May 2013

Vertebrate regeneration and regenerative medicine

Presented by Jeremy Brockes, FRS, Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, UCL
21 March 2012

Studies of erythroid differentiation: transcription factors, genomic interactions and thalassemia or sickle cell anemia

Presented by Frank Grosveld FRS (Department of Cell Biology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam)

Deconstructing oncogenesis and tumor suppression

Presented by Gerard Evan , Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
6 May 2010

Defects in DNA strand break repair and links to human disease

Presented by Stephen West FRS, Cancer Research UK
28 May 2009

Unravelling the genetics of common human diseases

The speaker for this lecture is Peter Donnelly FRS, Oxford.
29 May 2008

Human sex chromosome abnormalities: An overview and some recent research

Presented by Patricia Jacobs FRS, Southampton
31 May 2007

Population biology, evolution and epidemiology of bacterial pathogens

Presented by Brian Spratt FRS Imperial College London
May 2006

Inherited cardiomyopathies: lessons learnt from experiments of nature

Presented by Hugh Watkins, Oxford
26 May 2005

The virtues of life's imperfections: cost and benefit of errors

Presented by Miroslav Radman, University of Paris
27 May 2004

Genetic susceptibility to infectious diseases of humans

Presented by Adrian Hill, Oxford
29 May 2003

QTLs, cognitive abilities and disabilities

Presented by Robert Plomin, Kings College, London
30 May 2002

Cystic fibrosis-from gene to therapy-delivering the right message

Presented by David Porteous, Edinburgh
31 May 2001

Ransom Lecture 2000

Presented by John Burn, Newcastle
25 May 2000

Genes for breast and ovarian cancer- useful knowledge?

Presented by Bruce Ponder (FRS 2001) Cambridge
27 May 1999

Aetiology and genetics of the common multifactorial disease Type I diabetes

Presented by John Todd, Oxford
28 May 1998

Ransom Lecture 1997

Presented by Paul Nurse FRS, Nobel Laureate (now Sir Paul) ICRF
29 May 1997

Manipulating the human embryo

Presneted by Lord Robert Winston, Hammersmith Hospital, London
30 May 1996

Multi-coloured FISH in genetic research

Presented by Malcolm Ferguson-Smith FRS, Cambridge
25 May 1995

Progress in the molecular genetics of muscular dystrophy

Presented by Kay Davies CBE (FRS 2003, now Dame Kay) Oxford
26 May 1994

How to make a man

Presented by Peter Goodfellow FRS Cambridge
27 May 1993

Ransom Lecture 1992

Presented by Walter Bodmer FRS (now Sir Walter) ICRF
May 1992

Butterflies, genes and man

Presented by Sir Cyril Clarke FRS, Liverpool
1990

Wiliam Henry Ransom MD FRCP FRS (1824-1907)

William Ransom was physician to the Nottingham General Hospital from 1854 to 1890 , during which time he also carried out basic research in fish embryology. It was in particular for his “original observations in ovology” that he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1870. In addition to his extraordinary experimental work on fertilization, Ransom described and isolated the enlarged oocyte nucleus and in 1867 published illustrations of the multiple nucleoli within it, structures that we now know contain DNA. In the latter stages of his long career in Nottingham Ransom helped in the establishment and served on the governing body of University College Nottingham, which became The University of Nottingham.