The award
The Buchanan Medal is awarded annually for distinguished contributions to the biomedical sciences.
The award was created from a fund to the memory of the physician George Buchanan FRS (PDF), former Chief Medical Officer of the UK, and was first awarded in 1897. Originally it was awarded once every five years, from 1990 to 2017 it was awarded biennially, but it is now awarded annually. The medal is of silver gilt and is accompanied by a gift of £2,000.
Past winners
Sir Adrian Peter Bird CBE FRS was awarded the 2018 Buchanan Medal for his discovery that 5-methycytosine-binding MeCP2 protein silences transcription of methylated DNA and can reverse established Rett Syndrome in MeCP2 deficiency, the first demonstration that such neurodevelopmental diseases are curable.
Sir Peter Ratcliffe FMedSci FRS was awarded the 2017 Buchanan Medal for his ground-breaking research on oxygen sensing and signalling pathways mediating cellular responses to hypoxia.
Professor Irwin McLean FMedSci FRS was awarded the 2015 Buchanan Medal
for his major contribution to our understanding of the genetic basis of
heritable skin diseases.
See full list of all past winners of the Buchanan Medal.