Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell earned a degree in Physiology in 1976, a PhD in 1978 along with a DSc in 1987 from the University of London. Her early research identified mechanisms of energy balance regulation, obesity and cachexia.
Following postgraduate study and early research roles at Queen Elizabeth College, Professor Rothwell came back to St George’s, University of London, where she initially joined as postdoctoral research fellow in the department of Physiology in 1979. Subsequent appointments included Royal Society university research fellow and honorary lecturer, before moving to Manchester.
Understanding brain damage
Nancy Rothwell was promoted to professor of physiology at the University of Manchester in 1994. She held many other university roles prior to her appointment as President and Vice-Chancellor in 2010. Her own research in the field of neuroscience, which is ongoing, has contributed towards major advances in the understanding and treatment of brain damage in stroke and head injury.
She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in June 2004 and made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 2005, in recognition of her services to science. She was the founding President of the Royal Society of Biology, and has also served as a non-executive director of AstraZeneca. She is currently co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester, Chair of the Oxford Road Corridor Board, and a member of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Board, the Northern Powerhouse Partnership Board, the UK Dementia Research Institute Board and the Industrial Strategy Council.