New IRR Professors announced

Three IRR Principal Investigators have been promoted to full professor along with twelve colleagues across the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.

Professors Ahsan Akram, Christopher Lucas and Chelsea Morroni have been promoted ahead of the 2026 academic year as personal chairs in their respective fields.

Professor Ahsan Akram will be the new Personal Chair of Thoracic Oncology and Imaging. Based at the Centre for Inflammation Research, Professor Akram’s group researches lung cancer, focusing on the components of the tumour microenvironment to understand how these different cells shape tumour progression and patient outcome. His lab is dedicated to advancing the field of translational research in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most prevalent cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide.

Professor Christopher Lucas, Personal Chair of Pulmonary Immunity and Regeneration, also sits within our Centre for Inflammation Research. His lab is interested in the immunology of tissue regeneration within the injured lung and aims to develop new treatments that promote successful lung repair after serious infection or damage. Professor Lucas is also an NHS Lothian Honorary Consultant in Respiratory Medicine where he is the Academic Lead for Asthma.

Professor Chelsea Morroni is named Personal Chair of Global Sexual and Reproductive Health. Professor Morroni works collaboratively with our Centre for Reproductive Health and the Botswana Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative. She was recently awarded the NIHR Global Health Research Professorship for her project ‘Improving sexual health in pregnancy in Africa: a people centred approach’. Her research interests aim at improving sexual, reproductive and maternal health in low- and middle-income countries.

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