Comment 173 - March 2007

| 2 Profile 2007 | 3 Wolfson Foundation gives £4m | 5 King’s forges new links with India | 7 Defence Minister | 8 First Honorary Degree

Comment Issue no 173 | March 2007

The College newsletter

Fifth MRC Centre at King’s Greg Funnell

King’s has been awarded a new

MRC Centre for Transplantation to address some of the ongoing problems associated with transplantation. The Centre will be directed by Professor Steven Sacks and brings the total to five prestigious Medical Research Council (MRC) Centres at King’s, more than at any other institution.

More MRC Centres than at any other institution The Centre will bring together experts in basic biology and transplant medicine to focus research on delivering more rapid and effective methods of diagnosis and treatment. The programme of research will apply an extensive knowledge of human immunology, stem cell biology, genomics and imaging to develop new areas that will benefit human health. The Centre will also play a pivotal role in training and education and will work closely with the Centre for Medical Law and Ethics at King’s on the regulation and ethics of transplantation research.

Replacement of diseased organs and cells by healthy tissue has partly been realised through progress in transplantation over the last 50 years. But several outstanding issues are hindering medical progress in this area.

These include a shortage of donor organs, high rates of mid-term graft loss and cumulative drug toxicity.

Some of the key investigators collaborating in the new Centre. From left: Professors Robert Lechler, Ellen Solomon, Steven Sacks, Adrian Hayday and Frank Nestle.

‘For transplantation therapy to achieve greater success, advance is needed in several directions,’ says the Centre’s Director, Professor Sacks. ‘We need to find alternative sources of donor tissues and cells that lend themselves to therapy for a larger number of conditions, such as kidney and liver failure, arthritis, diabetes and tooth decay. Also, we need to find a way of ensuring that the replacement tissue is accepted without requiring lifelong drugs to block the immune system.’

Other key investigators collaborating in the new Centre include Professors Robert Lechler, Adrian Hayday, Reza Razavi, Ellen Solomon, Paul Sharpe, Frank Nestle, Genevra Richardson and Dr Cosimo De Bari. The translational nature of the Centre’s research will further enhance the close clinical alliance with King’s partner NHS Trusts

– King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. These Trusts run one of the largest clinical transplant programmes in Europe and the largest living kidney and liver practice in the UK.

‘Facilitate more rapid and effective solutions’ ‘By bringing together at a single Centre a wide range of expertise in basic and clinical research, we hope to facilitate more rapid and effective solutions to some of the problems associated with transplantation,’ Professor Sacks adds. ‘The Centre is the first of its kind in the UK and possibly Europe, and emphasises the continued vision of the MRC for the advancement of medical science

into clinical practice.’

The Principal, Professor Rick Trainor, comments: ‘Transplantation is an important area of biomedical research at King’s and we have a number of world-class research programmes in this field. I would like to congratulate Steven and his colleagues on their tremendous achievement in securing a new Medical Research Council Centre. We are delighted to be collaborating with the MRC on this initiative. It enhances our ongoing partnership with them and means that King’s now has five prestigious MRC Centres, all focussed on groundbreaking research aimed at improving human health.’

Professor Colin Blakemore, Chief Executive of the MRC, says: ‘With more than 6,000 patients waiting for organs in the UK and with the supply of organs dwindling, it is crucial that we strive to overcome the hurdles we face. The MRC Centre for Transplantation at King’s will use a number of different interventions in both the recipient and the donated tissue to enhance the quality of transplants and make more organs suitable for donation. The MRC is keen to support research that aims to bring together experts in different disciplines and encourages scientists in hospitals and laboratories to work together to improve healthcare as quickly as possible.’ continued on page 2

News Principal’s Column julIAn AnDerSon

Dear Colleagues Many of you have attended the Principal’s Fora which I held recently on all our campuses. In these, I have attempted to give an overview of developments within the College. In addition, the core executive body of the College, the Principal’s Central Team, has agreed to publish a monthly report on its work in the new College ezine. I hope that both of these initiatives help to keep the College community informed about our strategic direction, and to take pride in the significant advances that King’s is making in so many respects. I am particularly pleased, for instance, that we can now publicly announce that the Medical Research Council Centre for Transplantation is to be based at King’s; no fewer than five of the UK’s 21 MRC Centres are now based at the College. [See cover story.]

Recent grants and donations across the College acknowledge these advances; most notable is the £4 million funding from the Wolfson Foundation for a King’s Clinical Neuroscience Institute. [See page 3.] I have every confidence that our new fundraising campaign

will build on the respect and goodwill that the College has engendered: its target will far exceed that of the previous campaign, which raised £44 million.

It is cheering also that student applications are up by 8 per cent, and particular mention should be made of the impressive application increases in Mechanical Engineering (up 108 per cent), Film Studies (93 per cent) and Mathematics (68 per cent). [See article opposite.]

The Chairman of Council and I were able to meet a number of applicants and alumni during our visit to India in February when we visited Delhi and Mumbai and a number of Indian academic institutions. We also hosted a symposium on terrorism in Delhi at which Professor Mike Clarke spoke and which was attended by a large number of military top brass and diplomats.

The highlight of the trip, however, was an audience with the President of India, a physicist who was involved with India’s space programme, during which we were able to discuss plans for a Chair in Space Policy at King’s.

Whilst I was in India a widespread power cut in central London closed the Strand Campus and affected email and the web across the College. I am grateful to those staff who worked into the night to rectify this unfortunate situation.

With best wishes for the Easter break.

The other MRC Centres at King’s are the Centre for Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (led by Professor Peter McGuffin), the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology (led by Professor Andrew 2 | Comment | March 2007

The nuMber oF PeoPLe aPPLyIng To

Lumsden, FRS), the MRCAsthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma (Professor Tak Lee and Professor Tim Williams of Imperial College London) and the Centre for Neurodegenerative Research (Professor Brian Anderton).

nAreSH VerlAnDer

study undergraduate programmes at King’s has increased by 8 per cent – higher than the national average of 6.4 per cent. In particular, there has been an exceptional 50 per cent increase in applications to the School of Physical Sciences & Engineering.

strong gains in the home fee market Overall, this represents a rise in applications of 2,346 to 30,115.

In particularly there have been strong gains in the home fee market (including the EU) with an increase in applications of 10 per cent compared to a national figure of 6.3 per cent.

Applications to the College are up 28 per cent on this point on the previous five years’ average.

Applications to the School of Physical Sciences & Engineering are up by more than any other School (by 1,077 applications to 3,247). Particular increases are in Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics and Physics, up by 108 per cent, 68 per cent, and 46 per cent, respectively. This compares extremely favourably to the national picture of 9.8 per cent; 10 per cent; and 12.2 per cent.

The five most popular subject areas account for nearly half (14,575) of the 30,115 applications received in the current cycle.

These subject areas are: Medicine

Profile 2007

Rick Trainor

Fifth MRC Centre at King’s continued from page 1

King’s applications success

Enclosed with this issue of Comment is the new edition of Profile. Profile is an annual pocket-size guide to King’s, covering the College’s history, structure and latest developments. Profile is available on receptions but if you would like more copies for events or visitors please contact pr@kcl.ac.uk

(5,340); Management Studies (3,217); Law (2,934); BSc in Biomedical Science (1,552) and Pharmacy (1,532).

Medicine, Law and Management Studies alone account for 38 per cent (11,491) of total applications.

Of the 23 subject areas to have shown an increase on last year, nearly two thirds of the extra applications can be accounted for by the following five subject areas: Management Studies; Mathematics; Biomedical Science; Mechanical Engineering, and Physics.

Applications for Film Studies are also up considerably this year, by 93 per cent, rising from 136.

‘I am delighted that King’s continues to attract a rapidly increasing number of high-calibre students. It is particularly pleasing to see how well Physical Sciences & Engineering are doing,’ comments the Principal, Professor Rick Trainor.

News

Wolfson Foundation gives £4 million The Wolfson Foundation has

pledged £4 million towards the new King’s Clinical Neuroscience Institute (KCNI), a new initiative in the field of neuroscience that aims to make a real difference to the understanding and treatment of debilitating neurological disorders such as stroke, dementia, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease.

‘One of the most ambitious projects in clinical neuroscience’ ‘Neurological disorders are the single most common cause of severe physical disability in the UK, and, as our population ages, the number of people affected by neurological illness will increase dramatically,’ explains Chris Shaw, Acting Director of KCNI and Professor of Neurology and Neurogenetics.

‘Collaboration between clinicians and scientists is vital if we are to secure advances in our understanding of these conditions and deliver new and more

An artist’s impression of the new King’s Clinical Neuroscience Institute at the Denmark Hill Campus.

effective treatments. Therefore, by bringing together the clinicians who understand how diseases affect patients and scientists who are exploring the underlying biology, we can more effectively work to improve the lives of those with these conditions, ensuring that breakthroughs made in the laboratory are rapidly translated into treatments that save lives and improve care,’ he continues.

The KCNI will be a stateof-the-art research facility, comprising 3,600 square metres of clinical, teaching and laboratory space alongside cutting-edge core facilities. The cost to

build and equip the Institute is £26 million, with the College and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust having committed £14 million to the build and £3 million, over five years, to new posts.

‘The establishment of the KCNI is one of the most ambitious projects in clinical neuroscience in the last 50 years, and will serve as the translational arm of the College’s existing outstanding strength in basic neuroscience. We are absolutely delighted that the Wolfson Foundation is funding this project so generously. It gives a real boost

to the fundraising campaign,’ comments Professor Robert Lechler, Vice-Principal (Health).

The Wolfson Foundation supports projects across the fields of science and technology, medical research and health, education and the arts, currently allocating some £35 million per annum.The Foundation has provided support to major initiatives at the College including: the primary gift to establish the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases; and a grant to the award-winning restoration and conversion of the former Public Record Office as the College’s flagship library facility.

Boost for online dental training King’s has secured £2.3 million

over three years for an innovative online learning project to train dentists in specialist subjects.

The initiative, which will be run

by King’s Dental Institute, is largely funded by HEFCE and the Department of Health.

Action to increase the number of qualified NHS dentists is ongoing, but the lack of appropriately qualified teachers, particularly in the more specialist disciplines such as dental radiology, oral medicine and pathology presents a challenge for dental education. This online flexible learning project will bridge the gap between skills development for dentists and the availability of expert teachers in smaller specialties.

The new e-learning platform allows students access to a broad

range of online teaching and learning, support and services from enrolment to graduation and beyond. Dental Schools will be able to customise the platform according to their specific needs and use it alongside traditional teaching methods.

The Dental Institute has a strong track record in e-learning The project will form the foundation of IVIDENT (International Virtual Dental School) which, in partnership with other academic institutions will become a self sustaining, nonprofit making business enterprise.

Dr Patricia Reynolds, Deputy

Dr Patricia Reynolds

Director of Education for Flexible Learning at King’s Dental Institute, says: ‘This has wider implications than just dentistry.

The solution could be applied globally to all higher education specialties for the maintenance of excellence in education.’

Professor Nairn Wilson, Dean of the Dental Institute, adds: ‘We are delighted to receive a HEFCE Strategic Development Fund award to further develop this innovative flexible learning platform. This should have an impact on dental education nationally and internationally, greatly enhancing access to stateof-the-art resources in learning and teaching.’

The Dental Institute has a strong track record in e-learning.

Dr Reynolds has pioneered a number of key projects, including the use of wireless communications technology in clinical environments.

March 2007 | Comment |

International

German Minister speaks at King’s Dr Ursula von der Leyen, German

Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens Women and Youth, and herself a mother of seven, spent the day at King’s on 19 February. In office since 2005, Dr von der Leyen has been committed to addressing the problems arising out of demographic change.

Highlighted the urgency of the demographic question for Europe Dr von der Leyen visited in the week before she formally launched a ‘European Alliance for Families’, with the aim of making employers, interest groups and the public more aware of the

needs for families across the EU. As the Principal, Professor Rick Trainor, noted, Dr von der Leyen’s visit highlighted the College’s commitment to public service, and recognised the public standing of the Minister’s hosts, the European Studies programme and the Institute of Gerontology.

The Minister began by speaking informally to European Studies programme staff and students about her experiences as a Minister. ‘Of particular interest were her first-hand descriptions about working with the EU and the benefits of benchmarking which enables member states to learn from each other and adopt best practice,’ said Dr Jan Palmowski, Senior Lecturer in European Studies who organised the lecture.

Greg Funnell

directed at dealing with an ageing population.

The Minister concluded her visit with a lecture on

Demographic Change in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities.

Professor Keith Hoggart, Vice-Principal (Arts & Sciences), Dr Ursula von der Leyen and Dr Jan Palmowski.

In the afternoon, the Minister visited the Institute of Gerontology, one of the UK’s leading research centres for questions related to ageing and demographic change. She emphasised the interconnectedness of policies

Speaking in front of 200 students, staff and members of the public, Dr von der Leyen highlighted the urgency of the demographic question for Europe, as the number of citizens over 80 is likely to double by 2030, with a decline of the population in working age by 20 million in the EU. The Minister encouraged the audience to consider this not just as a ‘problem’, but also to think of the challenges arising from this as opportunities.

Dr von der Leyen’s speech was followed by many questions from the audience.

Spearheading global child oral health initiative Dental disease is reaching

unprecedented proportions in many countries and King’s is spearheading the first global initiative aimed at improving child oral health. At an inaugural Global Child Dental Health Taskforce conference held in London from 4-9 March, 22 world-leading dental and public health specialists explored how to eliminate dental decay in children within 20 years.

The Taskforce is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is led by Professor Raman Bedi of King’s Dental Greg Funnell

Professor Raman Bedi

| Comment | March 2007

Institute. At the conference, world dental leaders debated how they can most effectively influence major system change for the way dental services are provided.

‘Dental decay remains the most common childhood disease’ The initiative is already underway in nine countries including China, India, Mexico, South Africa and the United States, reaching out to over one billion children and their parents. It expects to encompass 30 countries within the next few years and is responding to the fragmented global burden of oral disease. For example, 50 per cent of UK children leave school never having had a filling whereas in Saudi Arabia, more than 90 per cent of school leavers have a dental cavity. The Taskforce will influence and harmonise national oral health programmes via the sharing and development of cutting-edge preventive strategies.

Delivering his opening address at the conference, Professor Bedi, who is a former Chief Dental Officer for England (2002-5), said: ‘Over the past decade, dental decay has reached unacceptable proportions across many parts of the world. This is due to rising sugar consumption and inadequate exposure to fluorides.

For example, in the Philippines it is estimated that one in four children has toothache every day.’

Professor Bedi continued: ‘Every child in the world

deserves good oral health. Yet dental decay remains the most common childhood disease with every other child across the world suffering a cavity.

‘Child oral health is often treated as low priority or even overlooked within healthcare planning. The irony is that effective preventive measures are well proven and we believe that via a collaborative international approach we can considerably reduce and even eliminate dental cavities in children.’

International

King’s forges new links with India Image Inc New Delhi

The Principal and Chairman of

Council recently led a successful delegation from the College to India to develop further links with the country, and raise the College’s profile. Their visit culminated in a meeting with the President of India and the announcement of five new scholarships for Indian nationals.

The Principal, Professor Rick Trainor, and Chairman, Baroness Rawlings, went to the Presidential Palace to meet the President of India, Dr Abdul Kalam, who was a career physicist involved with the Indian space programme, as well as being a distinguished theologian.

Five new scholarships for Indian nationals On 12 February the College hosted a major seminar on

Perspectives on Terrorism – Europe & Asia which made a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on global approaches to terrorism.

Presentations were given by Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence Studies at King’s and an international commentator on defence issues; and Major General Afsir Karim (retd), editor of the leading journal in SouthEast Asia on terrorism.

The seminar was chaired by King’s War Studies alumnus, Professor Maroof Raza at the United Service Institution of India Auditorium, New Delhi and attended by more than 100 people, including the Vice Air Marshal of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as a number of diplomats and senior military personnel.

Professor Trainor commented: ‘It is particularly fitting that, when both India and Britain have suffered devastating blows from terrorism in recent years, that we were able to hear expert opinion from both countries on the nature and extent of the threat to values which we hold in common.’

Perspectives on Terrorism was attended by more than 100 people. Speaker Major General Afsir Karim is seated front row, second from right.

The event attracted considerable attention in the Indian media.

In the evening the College organised an alumni reception for more than 100 people at the Oberoi. During this event Professor Trainor announced that five new scholarships have been established at King’s for Indian Image Inc New Delhi

nationals pursuing one year full-time master’s programmes, commencing in the 2007-8 academic session.

Preference will be given to students who have not previously studied outside India. Each scholarship will provide a contribution of £4,000 towards the overall tuition fee for international students. For more information see www.kcl.ac.uk/international/ finance/scholarships/india.html

King’s Honorary Fellow, the Hon Paul Zuckerman, meets TV pundit Ajai Shukla (War Studies alumnus) [right] and Fortune journalist John Elliott at the Delhi reception.

Image Inc New Delhi

Major Maroof Raza, War Studies alumnus, who chaired the seminar and is currently presenting a 26-part series on Indian television on the armed forces.

A second alumni reception was held on 14 February in Mumbai at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. King’s has a number of distinguished alumni in India, including the writer Khushwant Singh.

In addition, a number of private meetings were held with alumni and friends of the College who hold key positions in industry and the scientific community. High level discussions were held with several key academic institutions, including the renowned Indian Institute of Technology. The King’s delegation also visited the Whistling Woods International Film Institute – a multi-million dollar film school complex currently being built by King’s alumni Meghna Ghai Puri and Rahul Puri.

Image Inc New Delhi

Ravinder Nath, Law alumnus, Advocate of the Supreme Court of India, Baroness Rawlings and Chris Coe, Director of Communications.

Taj Memories Photographers

Physiotherapy alumna Mrs Jaishri Naik chats with Baroness Rawlings. Emily Carter, Alumni Events Coordinator, is pictured in the centre.

Image Inc New Delhi

Professor Michael Clarke

March 2007 | Comment |

Visitors

First Sea Lord outlines Navy challenges Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, First

Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, spoke to War Studies’ students on how the Royal Navy is adjusting to, and will operate within, the changing strategic environment. The lecture was at the invitation of The Laughton Naval History Unit in the Department of War Studies.

Sir Jonathon, who has been quoted extensively in the media recently on the future of the Royal Navy, emphasised the difference in the political, strategic and geographical context within which the Armed Forces are, and will operate, in the future.

He stated that the large scale threat posed by the Soviet Union has now disappeared but has been replaced by new threats such as nationalism, religious extremism, terrorism and the

Greg Funnell

growth of rogue states. He made it clear that in order to meet these new challenges, Armed Forces needed to be able to deploy both ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ power, and the capabilities to succeed in a more volatile world.

The Navy has been re-configuring itself Whilst not attracting the attention that goes to the current land-centred operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, he was quick to point out that there are significant Naval Forces in both theatres and that the Navy’s contribution to these was in addition to its global role and deployment around the oceans of the world supporting national and international operations.

Warning from ageing expert

Admiral Sir Jonathon Band

He highlighted the Navy’s conspicuous successes including the use of ‘soft’ power, most recently seen in the evacuation of British nationals from Beirut last year.

To meet all these demands, the Royal Navy has been successfully re-configuring itself

Minister for Sport at Think Tank

Greg Funnell

From left: Professor Simon Biggs, Dr Alex Kalache, Professor Rick Trainor and Gordon Lishman (Director of Age Concern England).

Dr Alex Kalache, Head of the

World Health Organization’s Ageing and the Lifecourse Programme, gave the David Hobman Annual Lecture at King’s in which he warned of the social and economic issues associated with a fast-growing ageing population, particularly in the poorer countries of the world.

In his lecture entitled The

Challenge of Population Ageing | Comment | March February 2007 2007

is Global – but Greater in the South Dr Kalache outlined the current situation, explaining that there had been a revolution in the world’s population with no historical precedent.

In spite of the developed world’s preoccupation with an ageing population, this pales in comparison to the effects on less developed countries.

Soon two billion of the world’s

into a force that is expeditionary, more deployable and agile than before, and Sir Jonathon drove this theme home by citing the significant shipbuilding programme over the past few years that has and will continue to deliver the capabilities that will be needed in the future.

Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval History and Director of the Laughton Naval History Unit, said: ‘This was a tremendous opportunity for students at King’s to hear about the present and future challenges facing the Royal Navy from the First Sea Lord. His comprehensive and thoughtful response to a series of questions ranging from the importance of naval history to the current aircraft carrier programme demonstrated that the future of the service is in good hands.’

Greg Funnell

The Rt Hon Richard Caborn MP, Minister for Sport [centre], gave sportsthinktank.com’s inaugural annual lecture, Reflections and future challenges for sport, on 5 February at the Strand Campus. The event was introduced by David Collier, Chief Executive, England and Wales Cricket Board [far right]. Professor Keith Hoggart, King’s Vice-Principal (Arts & Sciences) [second from left], and Jonathan Taylor, School of Law [third from left]. [Also pictured are Tim Payton, Nick Laitner, Paul Williamson and Mike Lee from sportsthinktank.com]

population will be over 60 and 1.7 billion of these people will be in poor countries. This change is happening in the span of less than one generation.

In response to the lecture, Simon Biggs, Director of King’s Institute of Gerontology and Professor of Gerontology, said:

‘We are only just waking up to the scale of these changes. They will affect every aspect of adult life, from relations between the generations to those between almost every country on the globe. How we respond to adult ageing is becoming a defining problem for the 21st century.’

Visitors

Defence Minister gives major speech Greg Funnell

The rt hon Des Browne, Secretary

of State for Defence, gave a keynote speech at King’s on The

UK’s Nuclear Deterrent in the Twenty First Century in the Great Hall, Strand Campus.

To an audience of staff, students, guests of King’s and journalists, Mr Browne explained the Government’s thinking on the timing of decisions to replace the Trident nuclear deterrent, driven as it is by the life-cycle of the missile-carrying submarines.

The role of a nuclear deterrent in national security He concentrated, however, on the central arguments concerning the role of a nuclear deterrent in British conceptions of national security for the next 50 years, discussing the continuing role of deterrence in all thinking about the utility of military force, as well as in the case of nuclear forces.

In particular, he took the opportunity to announce that

The Right Honourable Des Browne, Secretary of State for Defence

the Government had stopped using the term ‘sub-strategic Trident’ in discussions on a

TV’s Ray Mears at King’s

possible limited use of nuclear weapons, and affirmed again ‘that the UK would only consider

using nuclear weapons in the most extreme situations of selfdefence’. This was an important clarification to a policy debate which began in 1998 when the Government had announced then that ‘Trident must also be capable of performing this ‘substrategic’ role’.

The speech was followed by a question and answer session chaired by Sir Lawrence Freedman, Vice-Principal (Research) and Professor of War Studies.

In this session he enlarged upon the point. Both legally and morally, the Minister said, Trident ‘can only be a strategic weapon’. He indicated the crucial importance of the legal and moral arguments behind all these judgements. The deterrent, he said, can be argued on rational grounds of national interest, as the Government does. But another generation of nuclear weapons must also be compatible with our international obligations, and with our consciences. ‘In the end,’ he said, ‘that must and will remain a matter of personal moral choice.’

Boris Johnson talks at the Strand Greg Funnell

Greg Funnell

From left: Dr Tony Leeds, Ray Mears, Professor Gordon Hillman and Professor Tom Sanders.

bushcraft expert Ray Mears and

paleoethno-botanist Gordon Hillman gave animated accounts of their 10-year programme of work on the diet of man in Britain during the Mesolithic period to a packed auditorium at King’s on 2 February. This also featured in the recent BBC2 television series Ray

Mears’ Wild Food.

Professor Hillman, based at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL,

has collaborated with colleagues in Nutritional Sciences at King’s, notably Senior Lecturer Dr Tony Leeds and Lecturer Peter Ellis, for more than 20 years.

King’s scientists also worked with Ray Mears and Professor Hillman during preparation of the five-part TV series screened in January. Contributions to two episodes were filmed in the Franklin-Wilkins Building.

In January Boris Johnson, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, addressed a national meeting for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at the Strand Campus. Mr Johnson had been invited to give a talk at a General Meeting of the Council of University Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CUDASSH). Professor Ann Thompson, Head of the School of Humanities [left], is on the Executive of CUDASSH and hosted the meeting.

The Shadow Minister spoke about issues in developing Conservative higher education policy. [Also pictured are Dr Bill Brooks [far right], Associate Dean (Education), University of Southampton, and Chair of CUDASSH and Professor Michael Worton, Vice-Provost of University College London and Chair of the Arts & Humanities Research Council panel.]

March 2007 | Comment |

King’s people First Honorary Degree

Media award Patrick Barth

Professor Alison Wolf

Alison Wolf, Sir Roy Griffiths

Professor of Public Sector Management at King’s, has won the prestigious ‘Magazine Feature of the Year Award’ in the Workworld media awards announced at a ceremony at Bafta.

Professor Wolf won for her article in Prospect magazine about the diverse nature of women’s work and lives, and the decline of the service ethic.

Security event On 21-22 February the War Studies Group organised a workshop on Contemporary Security Challenges and Responses in conjunction with the US-based Center for Naval Analyses (CNA).

The event took place at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, UK Defence Academy, where the Defence Studies Department (DSD) provides academic support to the British armed forces.

The aim was to share insights and to generate new knowledge and understanding of current and evolving international security challenges. A range of topics was covered including stabilisation operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and nuclear security issues.

The agenda drew on recent and ongoing research conducted by King’s and CNA and the aim is to publish some of the papers in the journal Defence Studies edited in DSD. It is hoped the workshop will be the first of several annual events hosted by King’s and CNA. | Comment | March 2007

Tempest Graduation Photography

Joseph Nye, widely recognised

as one of the foremost thinkers on foreign policy, and one of the world’s 10 most influential scholars of international relations, was presented with the first Honorary Degree of the University of London, awarded

by King’s College London, on 14 February prior to his delivery of the prestigious Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives annual lecture.

For the first time King’s exercised powers it has long held to confer honorary degrees of the University of London. Professor Nye is the first recipient in recognition of the outstanding contribution he has made to his field. He was awarded Doctor of Social Sciences, Honoris Causa.

Having twice served in the United States Government, Professor Nye is now University Distinguished Service Professor and Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In his lecture, The Future of American Power, he speculated about whether American power

Quality Practice King’s College Health Centre, a GP practice that looks after the health needs of students, was presented with an award for excellence by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in February.

The Centre has worked for the

award. Being a nurse-led service, it is particularly gratifying that we have been able to meet all the clinical standards required which reflects on the quality of the staff and the ability to work closely together as a team.’

The RCGP aims to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice.

IoP Vice-Dean Joseph Nye

is now in decline; the rise of China; and whether the Iraq War is to the US what the Boer War was to Victorian Britain.

As Comment went to press three further Honorary Degrees will be bestowed on: Baroness Hale of Richmond, Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys and Judith Weir at a ceremony in the Strand Chapel on 8 March. These will be covered in May’s Comment.

Honorary Degrees of the University of London are awarded by King’s College London to individuals who are of conspicuous merit as demonstrated by their outstanding academic contribution to their field. past 18 months to attain a Quality Practice Award (QPA) from the RCGP – proving the practice offers a gold standard of service.

The award also reflects the dedication shown by the practice team to provide outstanding care to their patients.

Dr Derek Chase, Principal GP at the Centre, says: ‘We are delighted to have achieved this Greg Funnell

The QPA is presented to King’s College Health Centre by Professor Sir Graeme Catto, President of the GMC and former Vice-Principal (Health) at King’s [second from right].

Professor Shitij Kapur

Professor Shitij Kapur, Chief

of Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, is to take up a new post as Professor of Psychiatry and Vice-Dean at the Institute of Psychiatry, from August 2007.

Professor Kapur will bring his expertise in molecular imaging as applied to schizophrenia and psychopharmacology and will continue his work aimed at understanding how, why and when medications used to treat psychiatric illnesses work.

Professor Robert Lechler, Vice-Principal (Health), comments: ‘We are delighted to welcome Professor Kapur to join the illustrious ranks of academic researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry. His arrival represents a significant overseas appointment for the College and can only further boost the very excellent and groundbreaking schizophrenia and therapeutic neuroscience research currently underway within that School. It is anticipated that some members of his team in Toronto may join him, but more importantly he looks forward to collaborating with new colleagues and building a new team with graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.’

Obituaries Dr Helen Hudson FKC 1919-2006

Helen Hudson, Tutor to Women

Students (1959-73) and Dean of Students (1973-82), met, advised and encouraged thousands of King’s students during her long association with the College.

She came to King’s in 1959 as Tutor to Women Students.

It was her job to deal with all applications for admission from women and to look after their pastoral needs after they enrolled. Helen saw all women applicants selected for interview.

She was perturbed to find quotas for the maximum number of women to be recruited were still in operation and successfully campaigned against this.

Another of Helen’s campaigns was to get College accommodation for women – there were then three King’s halls of residence for men and none for women who had places only at intercollegiate halls. Helen argued that this was unacceptable and in the end Halliday Hall became a women’s hall and King’s College Hall admitted women. Helen was a champion of the cause of equal treatment of female students.

Towards the end of Sir Peter Noble’s time as Principal (1952-68) Helen took part in a ‘Rebellion of the Professors’.

There had been grumblings in the College because no-one knew how the new Principal would be chosen. A petition was organised to get a representative of the Professorial Board onto the selection committee. Helen advised on who would and would not sign. As a result two members of staff, elected by the Professorial Board, were on the selection committee.

By 1973 Helen felt that most

of the battles for women students had been fought. It was decided that there was a pressing need in the College for welfare and counselling services and for someone who was not involved in students’ examinations and results to take an oversight of the welfare of all students. Helen took on this new role as Dean of Students with enthusiasm. She could intervene if she thought students were being badly treated, and arranged for every student to have a tutor in their own Department who was responsible for their work and well-being. Because she was not attached to a particular Department or Faculty she was often able to see issues through the eyes of students.

In 1982 after setting up what were to become the College’s counselling and welfare services Helen retired. She remained active and was involved in the reshaping of Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park in the mid-eighties. She was Director of Studies there and wrote its history. She was also a member of the Canon Collins Educational Trust, which helps students from southern Africa to study in the UK. Her involvements with King’s remained strong. She was Patron of the King’s College London Association until 2005 and also a former President of the Association.

A portrait of Helen was taken to commemorate her contribution to the College, and especially to its students. It hangs in the Principal’s Dining Room at the Strand. Helen was the last person to hold the titles Tutor to Women Students and Dean of Students.

The novelist Michael Morpurgo (King’s, French & English, 1967, and Helen’s nephew) adds: ‘The essentially good and kind people are very rare. Helen Hudson was one.

She wanted only the best for other people, for the College she served so well for so many years, for her students, and also for her extended family. Helen was a kind friend who made a huge difference to many lives.’

A memorial service is being held for Helen at 17.30 on 29 May in the Strand Chapel. The service will be followed by a reception.

Peter Lawrence 1930-2007

Peter Lawrence was a geographer, the last Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Arts and the first Senior Tutor of the School of Humanities. He also had a role in setting up the External Relations function. He joined King’s in 1962 and retired in 1991.

Alan Howard 1949-2007 george orr

I met Peter Lawrence in December

1979 when he gave me my first permanent post in the Arts Faculty Office at the Strand.

My first day at King’s fell on the last day of the Michaelmas term and my earliest memory of Peter as Sub-Dean is of a slightly chalky academic gown billowing behind him as he strode down the corridor towards the Council Room and the termly Faculty Collections Meeting.

The resulting stern invitations to see the Sub-Dean would result in a trail of students whose fashion sense demarcated the passing years from punk to Thatcherite, and whose demeanours ranged from indifference to absolute terror.

All were greeted with kindness and concern about their welfare; censure was kept to a minimum but was applied when necessary with a humane wisdom. Nothing they had done could shock Peter; he was a dad with two growing lads of his own.

Alone in my new office on that first afternoon, I vividly remember feeling that I had come to an institution in which academic and personal values were held in high esteem, and also that working with a person whose role was that of upholder of those values would be a rich and rewarding experience. That’s a good feeling to have on day one of a job, and it has never left me.

It is due in no small measure to my 10 years working with Peter Lawrence, and many others who had the good fortune to meet him, as teacher, fellow geographer or as Sub-Dean, will remember him as I do, with gratitude and great affection.

Christine Saunders, Senior Assistant College Secretary, Humanities

Alan Howard joined King’s

Zoology Department in 1969 as an assistant photographer.

He worked for many years in Life Sciences and more recently playing a key role in the negotiations around the Pay and Modernisation programme, at local and national level. Alan was also Amicus Branch Secretary. His daughter has set up a Just Giving website for donations for Alan’s memorial fund: www.justgiving.com/ alan_howard

A more detailed obituary will appear in May’s issue.

Professor Robert KErwin 1955-2007 greg funnell

Robert Kerwin was Professor of

Clinical Neuropharmacology at the Institute of Psychiatry from August 1994. Professor Kerwin was also one of the founders of Theragenetics Limited, a pharmacogenetic diagnostics spinout company established in 2006 to develop and commercialise pharmacogenetic diagnostic tests to help the treatment of schizophrenia and other disorders.

A more detailed obituary will appear in May’s issue.

March 2007 | Comment |

Around the College

Holocaust exhibition

News in brief

An exhibition at King’s seeks

New Archives exhibition

New PAWS for 2007-8

– through material drawn largely from poet, novelist and man of letters HG Adler’s own working library and private papers – to document the origins and course of the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews. .

A new exhibition of more than 100 official British recruitment and fundraising posters from World War One is on display in the main foyer of the King’s Building, Strand Campus.

The exhibition explores the means by which the posters persuaded the public to contribute to the war effort using striking imagery.

The student PC facility, PAWS, is updated annually by ISS. ISS welcomes recommendations for new software, or suggestions for improvements to be incorporated into the new build, PAWS X, which will be released for the 2007-8 academic year. Further details can be found at www.kcl.ac.uk/

A unique and important collection of 1,100 items HG Adler (1910-88) spent more than three years as a prisoner of the Nazis. Born into a Jewish family in Prague, Adler was a poet, novelist and man of letters, yet it is as a witness to the Holocaust that he is best known – having experienced the horrors of Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Buchenwald, he subsequently made it his life’s work to describe and analyse what he had seen.

Adler was the author of one of the first works of Holocaust literature, Theresienstadt, 19411945, an objective and meticulous study of this concentration camp.

In the course of his extensive research Adler gathered a unique

New team at KCLE

Anti-Semitic propaganda from 1920s Austria.

and important collection – more than 1,100 items – of printed material on the Holocaust, the rise of Nazism and the fate of Europe’s Jews.

Adler’s reference library on the Holocaust was deposited in the Foyle Special Collections Library in 2003 by the writer’s son, Jeremy Adler, Professor Emeritus of German and Former Head of the Department of German. The exhibition runs until 20 April at the Maughan Library.

In order to enhance the commercial-facing activities at KCL Enterprises there has been a reorganisation within the Technology Transfer and Business Development teams for the Health Schools. In the new Commercial Development team for Health, Business Development Managers and Technology Transfer Managers will work together in defined business units in which they have responsibility for the same portfolio of Health Divisions, Centres or Schools.

Visit the KCL Enterprises site (www.kcl.ac.uk/kcle/) for further information.

King’s/DTI report A Department of Trade & Industry

(DTI) commissioned-report on UK corporate governance has been published by a team of experts from the Department of Management. It identifies the major drivers of good corporate governance, analyses the content of UK regulatory initiatives, and evaluates gaps in the content and implementation of UK policy.

Since the early 1990s, the UK has been very active in reforms which include a number of corporate governance codes, expert reports, a review of company law, and new regulations and legislation.

To take stock of these diverse developments and set a future policy agency, Igor Filatotchev, Professor of International Strategic Management, Howard Gospel, Professor of Management, and Gregory 10 | Comment | March 2007

Jackson, Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Comparative Management, have produced a 230-page report Key Drivers of

Good Corporate Governance and the Appropriateness of UK Policy Responses.

The effectiveness of corporate governance is not ‘one best way’ The most novel aspect of the report’s analysis is the suggestion that the effectiveness of corporate governance is not ‘one best way’ but is actually shaped by

diverse sets of costs, contingencies, and complementarities among governance practices.

‘Based on a wide review of social science evidence, as well as a survey of experts and focus group discussions with major players from industry, regulators and the City, we identified a number of key ‘drivers’ of good governance related to boards, shareholder engagement, stakeholder involvement, transparency and internal auditing and control systems. Using these as a benchmark, several gaps in the UK regulatory framework were identified,’ says Dr Jackson.

The report is online at: www.dti.gov.uk/bbf/corpgov-research/page15049. html

iss/it/paws/development/

The deadline is 23 March.

Prison population More than 9.25 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world according to the latest edition of the World Prison Population List, published by the International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS). This is an increase of a quarter of a million since the previous edition 18 months ago. The World List, compiled by Roy Walmsley for the ICPS, provides upto-date information on the global prison population and the rate per 100,000 of the prison population rate in 214 countries.

Air quality More than 80 delegates attended the January London Air Quality Network seminar, making it the largest to date.

The seminar was organised

by Gary Fuller in the Environmental Research Group (ERG).

Professor Frank Kelly, Director of ERG, says: ‘This seminar reported on our research activities, from air pollution emissions to air toxicity and health effects.

The air quality management initiatives being pursued by the Mayor and the boroughs provide a unique opportunity to study the outcomes of air quality management in terms of pollution concentrations and health effects.’

Around the College

Uni4U contributing to Government WP aims Uni4U, a widening participation

project in the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery at King’s, has won a significant extension to its funding. A Learning and Skills Council award of £142,000 takes the total funding for the project to over £2 million since 2000.

Supported over 4,000 people in London This ensures that Uni4U can continue to offer communitybased programmes to adults and contribute to Government targets for intermediate and higher level skills.

Uni4U is already delivering some of the recommendations of two recent high-profile Government reports. The Leitch report on UK Long Term Skills Needs and the Fryer report

on Heath Sector Skills, both advocate increased opportunities for learning at levels 2-4, enhanced links with employers, and clearer progression routes to higher education.

Professor Bob Fryer, National Director for Widening Participation at the Department of Health and author of the report, Learning for a Change in Healthcare, attended a reception in the Franklin-Wilkins Building held in December last year.

He presented 160 local people with their certificates, praising their achievements and the role of Uni4U in engaging with the community.

Kevin Bryant, Uni4U Project Manager, comments: ‘The College can be rightly acknowledged as an innovator in providing high quality community learning opportunities. Uni4U at King’s is uniquely positioned in

Photography competition The Corporate Design Unit, in

association with the Archives & Corporate Records Service, welcomes entries for this year’s photography competition. A first prize of £500 will be awarded together with five runners-up prizes of £100 each.

The competition is open to staff and students and entrants may submit more than one photograph. The photographs must be original works and should reflect or be connected to the College in some way.

A first prize of £500 will be awarded Photographs may be black and white or colour and any size and may be entered digitally or as a print. A completed entry form (available from www.kcl.ac.uk/design) giving name and contact details must accompany every entry.

Please submit entries in one of the following ways: by email

London to exploit new funding opportunities and is ahead of the game in relation to some recommendations of the Leitch and Fryer reports.’

Many participants in Uni4U are returning to learning after long periods out of the labour market and formal education.

Most achieve qualifications for the first time and progress to further or higher education or

employment.

Uni4U has supported over 4,000 people in London in this way since 2000 and is funded by grants from the European Social Fund, the Learning and Skills Council and the South East London NHS Workforce Development Confederation.

For further information contact kevin.bryant@kcl.ac.uk or see www.uni4u.org.uk

Connecting Culture & Commerce greg funnell

More than 250 delegates from museums, universities, libraries and commercial organisations attended a King’s conference exploring digital copyright issues in the arts and humanities, held in conjunction with the Museums Copyright Group at the National Gallery on 26 January. The event, entitled Connecting Culture and Commerce: Getting The Right Balance was organised by King’s Digital Consultancy Services (KDCS), and attracted an international audience. A fascinating debate on the issue of broadcasting copyright between the BBC’s Creative Director, Alan Yentob [pictured], and Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, prompted a lively discussion. KDCS is part of the Centre for Computing in the Humanities and provides consultancy, training and research for the information and digital domain.

Calling all alumni During February and March a team

Midnight on analysis by Tom Clifton scooped first prize in last year’s competition.

to design@kcl.ac.uk; or by post on a CD; or by post as a print.

Each print must also be titled on its reverse and display the name and contact details of the photographer.

CDs or prints should be sent or delivered to the Corporate Design Unit, 4.14 James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8WA. The closing date is 17.30 on 4 May 2007. The winners will be announced in the summer term.

of 30 students is calling 5,000 alumni to ask for their support for the Annual Fund and GKT Annual Fund. Facts about King’s telephone fundraising: • King’s has been successful in telephone fundraising for 12 years • all alumni are offered the chance to opt out of the calling campaign but only a tiny minority choose to do so • single gifts range in value from £10 to £1,000 or more. In each Campaign at least one alumnus/a who has never donated previously will give a first gift of £1,000 • of the alumni called in this

Campaign, 20 per cent of non- donors will make their first gift • half of the regular donors called will increase their gifts when asked • regular gifts are an increasingly popular way to give. Direct debits make it easier to give by phone • many letters are received thanking the callers for their time and praising the College for the intelligence and attitude of its students • last year telephone fundraising brought in £88,588 of additional income to the College.

For more information visit www.kcl.ac.uk/support/fund/

March 2007 | Comment | 11

Flashback

142 Strand, John Chapman & George Eliot Strand Bridge House (138-142 Strand) currently houses several College activities, including the Conference & Vacation Bureau and the Centre of Flexible Learning in Dentistry, but in the 1850s it was a politically radical address which was for a time home to the novelist George Eliot.

T

HE GUEST SPEAKER AT THE

nATIonAl PorTrAIT GAllery

official opening of the Centre of Flexible Learning in Dentistry on 13 March was Rosemary Ashton, author of

secret co-editor

142 Strand: A Radical Address in Victorian London (London: Chatto & Windus, 2006).

In the mid-19th century, as Professor Ashton explained, the historic building in which the Centre is located was the home and business headquarters of the unorthodox editor and publisher John Chapman and – for nearly three years – of Mary Ann or Marian Evans (alias George Eliot). She was Chapman’s lodger there between early 1851 and late 1853, while helping him to edit his campaigning periodical the Westminster Review.

Jealousy Professor Ashton’s book shows how the arrival of the 32-year-old Marian Evans provoked jealousy from Chapman’s wife and also from his mistress, who lived with the family as the children’s governess. Marian Evans and John Chapman do seem to have had a brief romantic, and possibly intimate, relationship there, and Marian also fell in (unrequited) love with another of Chapman’s visiting authors, the political theorist Herbert Spencer, before meeting the love of her life, George Henry (G H) Lewes, and setting up home in a scandalously unmarried but happy relationship with him. John Chapman then became one of only two people to whom Marian confided the secret of the relationship, when she and Lewes moved to Berlin in November 1854, and he remained one of her few supporters when she was ostracised for living with a man who was married to someone else.

Thanks to Chapman’s role as editor of the Westminster Review from 1851, and his residence at 142 Strand between 1847 and 1854, the premises became a meeting point for many famous radical and ‘advanced’ people, including John Stuart Mill; Thomas Carlyle; Robert Browning; the philosopher and writer Harriet Martineau; Francis William Newman (brother of Cardinal John Henry Newman, but with very different beliefs); the poet Arthur Hugh Clough and the American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose work Chapman introduced to British readers. In 1860 the Westminster Review carried an important review by the scientist Thomas Huxley (who in 1853 had been an unsuccessful applicant for an academic post 12 | Comment | March 2007

Giuseppe Mazzini, and it is possible that they too may have visited him at 142 Strand.

Mary ann or Marian evans (alias george eliot) in 1849.

at King’s), hailing Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species as a masterpiece. Chapman also had dealings with some of the Europeans who were in exile in London after the failed revolutions of 1848, such as Karl Marx and

Marian Evans’s role between 1851 and 1854 was as the secret co-editor of the Westminster Review, and she used her tact, wit, intelligence and negotiating skills to make these years among the most distinguished in the magazine’s history. She received only food and lodging in return for her services, but her stay at 142 Strand is likely to have helped to prepare her for the novel-writing career which began with the publication of Adam Bede in 1859. Rosemary Ashton notes the ‘shrewd accounts … of human nature as she encountered it in London’ which she sent to friends while living in the house (p122). Marian Evans’s articles for the Review, which appeared in every issue until January 1857, included her very full accounts of the ‘Contemporary Literature of England’.

The strand At the time Chapman leased number 142 (using it as the basis for a bookselling business, a publishing house and a boarding house for literary lodgers, as well as a family home) the Strand was the most important street in London, connecting the Court and Parliament at Westminster with the mercantile and financial heart of the City, providing London’s foremost shopping area and much of its publishing activity (before Fleet Street took over this role). Holywell Street, which ran parallel to the Strand where the Aldwych is now, had a less salubrious reputation as a centre for the second-hand and pornographic book trades.

King’s College London was, of course, already a major presence only a few hundred yards east of 142 Strand in this period. It is, then, a pity that while Rosemary Ashton (who is Quain Professor of English at University College London) provides numerous links between the activities of the house and people connected with her own College, she makes very little mention of King’s, even when writing of figures such as Charles Lyell who was a professor at King’s.

With its neighbours at 138-41 Strand, the building was extensively redeveloped in the 1980s, but it may be that the spirit of its Victorian radical and literary residents and visitors can be felt there still.

Christine Kenyon Jones

Research

Earthquake simulator Dr Metin Basoglu, a Senior

Psychological Medicine, Cambridge

Lecturer and Head of the Section of Trauma Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, who has worked with survivors of war, torture and earthquake for more than 20 years, has published a new paper looking at the effect a single session behavioural treatment in an earthquake simulator can have in the treatment of traumatic stress syndrome for victims of earthquakes.

The paper was published in the February issue of the journal

University Press and reports on this first ever usage of a real simulator that imitates an original trauma by way of treatment.

It is designed to enhance a greater sense of control (not necessarily fear reduction) which distinguishes it from other treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy or exposure treatment where the aim is to reduce fear.

This intervention, discussed in the research, involves a single session and is largely administered on a self-help basis.

Other treatments involve an average of 10 weekly sessions and rely more heavily on changing cognitive patterns – that is, changing faulty beliefs to reduce anxiety and imaginary exposure rather than live exposure to external trauma reminders.

Dr Basoglu has published extensively on the phenomenology and treatment of anxiety disorders. He is currently, amongst other initiatives, running a project in Turkey on the development of a treatment and service delivery model for earthquake survivors.

Cleft palate clue A group of scientists, led by Dr Karen Liu of the Department of Craniofacial Development at King’s Dental Institute, has identified a gene which plays a key role in preventing birth defects such as cleft palate. The research is published online this month in the journal Nature.

The gene – glycogen synthase kinase-3b – has multiple roles in diseases such as diabetes and neurodegeneration. The gene may cause dysfunction of insulin producing cells or accumulation of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s. In this research, scientists found that animal models without this gene have

a cleft palate, misaligned ribs and a split sternum. These are common birth defects in humans and knowing which gene is involved sheds more light on the causes of such defects.

This research has also produced a new method for exploring when proteins are required during development, which involves turning the proteins on and off using drugs. Knowing exactly when a protein is needed during a specific point in pregnancy helps in understanding the genetic programming that goes into making a properly formed animal.

Cannabis reclassification

Anxiety & adolescence According to the results of a

new National Institute of Mental Health study around 50 per cent of adults who suffer from diagnosable anxiety disorders may have shown sign of their psychiatric conditions as early as 15.

Professors Avshalom Caspi and Terri Moffitt were amongst

international academics working on this study published in the February 2007 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Mental health histories of more than 9,500 adults were examined focusing on 11 to 32 year-olds. Of these, 232 had been diagnosed with anxiety disorders in adulthood and one third had also shown signs of anxiety disorders during their teenage years. The second most common childhood psychiatric illness for adult subjects with anxiety disorders was depression.

These findings show that examining a patient’s psychiatric history could aid in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of adult anxiety disorders and point to the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of these disorders.

Despite police guidance to issue

street warnings for most cannabis possession offences since its downgrading from Class B to C in 2004, a new study, Policing

cannabis as a Class C drug: an arresting change? from King’s has

shown major inconsistencies in how the drug is being policed.

Researchers from the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR) led by Mike Hough, Director of the ICPR and Professor of Criminal Policy, found the proportion of street warnings in four police areas varied from 2242 per cent. The decision to arrest or issue a street warning depended on factors such as: the views of the officer; the amount of cannabis found; and local policy.

Rough estimates for the first year of street warnings suggest that cannabis reclassification has saved more than £3.5 million of police money and over 250,000 officer hours across the 43 forces in England and Wales.

The researchers concluded that policy on policing cannabis should follow three principles: effective monitoring of the policing of cannabis offences, with some form of independent scrutiny; close scrutiny of the impact of cannabis policing on black and ethnic minority groups, to ensure even-handed treatment; and keeping a close watch on the way in which performance management targets affect the policing of cannabis.

March 2007 | Comment | 13

Media watch

Fingerprint tests

School leavers

The Big Smoke

Virulent countdown

Dr Sue Jickells, Forensic

As the Government announced plans for a possible rise in the school leaving age to 18, Alison Wolf, Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management, and Sir Digby Jones, the Government’s Skills Tsar, debated the outcome of the decision on Radio 4’s Today programme. Professor Wolf was also guest on BBC 5 Live discussing school leaving age.

Frank Kelly, Professor of

Peter Zimmerman, Professor of

Environmental Health, commented on a new US study linking motorway pollution with permanent and life-limiting damage to children’s lungs on Channel 5 News, BBC News 24 and in The Guardian. Professor Kelly was also quoted in an article in The Economist on plans to designate London as a lowemissions zone.

Science and Security, writes on the HSN1 avain flu outbreak in an article in the European edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Science & Drug Monitoring, was interviewed on BBC One’s Inside Out about her research testing fatty acids left in fingerprints which can indicate a suspect’s age, gender and dietary habits.

Racism echoes Maleiha Malik, Lecturer in

Law, writes in an article in The Guardian, that today’s anti-Muslim racism echoes earlier anti-semitism as both minorities have been abused as an alien security threat.

Allergy assessment Gideon Lack, Professor of

Paediatric Allergy, appeared on Channel 5 News. Professor Lack is leading a clinical trial which aims to discover whether avoidance or exposure to peanuts is the best way to prevent peanut allergy in children.

Madame Butterfly Roger Parker, Thurston Dart

Professor of Music, sparked a debate about racism in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly in an opinion piece in The Guardian. The discussion continued in the editorial and letters pages of the Daily Telegraph and the Evening Standard.

Abuse link Children who suffer abuse have an increased risk of physical ill health in adulthood, reported the New Scientist and BBC News Online. Study leader Dr Andrea Danese, Institute of Psychiatry, said that public health interventions to prevent maltreatment in childhood could help reduce illness in adults.

14 | Comment | March 2007

Targeted terror Terrorists have aimed to produce mass attacks on soft targets, but that could change as they seek to carry out simpler and more narrowly focused attacks that are easier to accomplish, writes Dr Peter Neumann, Director of the Centre for Defence Studies, in the Evening Standard. Dr Neumann explored these changes in strategy further in interviews with CNN and Channel 4 News.

Chinese herbs Articles in The Times (Body & Soul) and The Scotsman featured a new database at King’s which searches for new drugs potential in Chinese herbs. Dr David Barlow, Head of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, explained that the database has identified more than 8,000 chemicals which could be used in new drugs to treat a range of diseases in interviews with BBC World Service and Voice of America.

New league table A report on Radio 4’s The Learning Curve focused on a study by Professor Tim Butler, Head of the Geography Department. He has devised a new school league table taking the social background of each pupil into account.

Parkinson’s Dr Sarah Salvage, Degenerative

Diseases Research Group, was the studio guest on Radio 4’s Case Notes, explaining the causes of Parkinson’s Disease and some of the treatments available.

Prison figures The newly published global prison figures from the International Centre for Prison Studies were the subject of an interview with Andrew Coyle, Professor of Prison Studies, on Radio 4’s World at One programme. He was also interviewed on Radio 5 Live and Radio Wales.

Serious problems Channel 4 News featured the highly secretive Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), which is experiencing major problems 10 months after it was created. Ben Bowling, Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, appeared in the feature.

Cabin air Professor Michael Bagshaw,

Professor of Aviation Medicine, argues that airline staff may even be less susceptible to illness than workers in other industries in The Daily Telegraph.

Egg payment Articles in The Observer and The Guardian on women being paid to donate their eggs for scientific research, included comment from Professor Peter Braude, Head of the Department of Women’s Health. Professor Braude said the medical dangers involved in the process of collecting the eggs should not deter women from offering to help medical science make potentially significant breakthroughs.

Australian gambling Gambling in Australia was discussed on Radio 4’s You & Yours programme, with Dr Robert Crawford, Lecturer in the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies.

Crime figures The further revelations of the Home Office’s shortcomings was the subject of an interview with Richard Garside, Director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, on Radio 4’s PM programme. He was also interviewed on Radio Five Live discussing the quarterly crime figures released by the Home Office.

See www.kcl.ac.uk/headlines for the latest media coverage or on Campus noticeboards. Comment is keen to know of any staff featured in the media, call ext 3202 or email pr@kcl.ac.uk

Student news RAG raises £95K for charities

Greek play Annabelle L Flower

Rugby scholarship

The King’s Greek play – performed

annually since 1953 – is the only production in the country to be staged in the original Greek. This year’s play, Sophocles’ Trachiniae, ran from 7-9 February at the Greenwood Theatre.

Trachiniae centres on the house of Herakles, husband of Deianeira, and father of Hyllus.

The play’s themes include jealousy, anger, revenge, suicide and murder.

Caroline Fries, a final-year Classics undergraduate, who directed the play, comments: ‘I have been involved in the Greek play since my first year and it is this unforgettable experience – bringing ancient texts alive for a modern audience – which has led me to become a director myself. This production was one of a kind with its spectacular audiovisual effects.’

History prize George Viney (BA History, 2006) has

been awarded the Derby-Bryce prize in History for achieving the best History degree result across the University of London in 2006.

This is a highly competitive prize, but King’s students have either won the prize outright or shared in the award in several recent years: Andrew Spencer (2002), Chris Manias (2003) and Daniel Owen Thomas (2005).

Current members of staff who have won the prize include Dr Lars Fischer (QMUL 2000).

Student bursaries King’s College London Engineering

Association (KCLEA) – the graduate association for engineers who have studied or worked at

general; vacation work; intended career; and hardship.

The recipients for 2006-7 are: Laura Dean, third-year Mechanical Engineering; Faheem Osman, second-year Electronic Engineering; Nigel Sharp, thirdyear Mechanical Engineering; and Joseph Sherwood, second-year Mechanical Engineering.

naresh verlander

This year’s RAG Week saw more than 400 health schools students taking part in a variety of activities to raise money for charities – four linked with King’s teaching hospitals and two external King’s – has recently started a fundraising campaign amongst its members to support undergraduate student bursaries to the value of £1,000. The original aim was to award two each year, but thanks to the generosity of one member,

ones. An impressive £95,000 has been collected to date.

The charities that will benefit are: CANHELP, Medicinema, Starfish Appeal, Lewisham Hearts, Mildmay Mission Hospital and DNDi. Terence Lo, the association is able to award four this year.

The bursaries are available to any second or third year student. The judging panel looked for: academic performance; contribution to the Engineering Society and the student body in

£1,000 winner collects her prize Last autumn all new students were invited to participate in the annual online Entrants Survey.

Around 1,400 completed the survey which aims to help the College assess its recruitment and admissions services.

The survey asked students how they found out about their programme, the application and enrolment process, what information they used and when, and how useful they found it. It also gathered data on perceptions and image of King’s.

The Marketing Department worked closely with the Academic Registry on the research project. The survey and follow up focus groups were delivered by Hobsons Research.

Those who responded were entered into a prize

Greg Funnell

Nursing student Yolinda Coburn.

draw. Earlier this month the winner, Yolinda Coburn, who is studying on a Nursing Studies with Registration – DipHE programme, collected a cheque for £1,000.

The Medical School and the Dental

Institute are seeking support to establish a Scholarship Fund for medical or dental students who demonstrate leadership, academic ability and commitment and who also excel in rugby.

The Guy’s rugby club, founded in 1843, is the oldest club in the world and has competed in 162 successive seasons of rugby in the medical and dental communities.

The club merged with the rugby clubs of Guy’s, St Thomas’ and KCSMD to form the present GKT Rugby Club.

A fund of £30,000 would support this sporting tradition by providing a scholarship of £1,000 a year to an exceptional male or female student-athlete who has excelled academically, and who is committed to contributing widely and enthusiastically to the GKT Rugby Club.

Alumni and staff with connections to the Club who would like more information about supporting the GKT Rugby appeal should contact Elaine Martyn in the Development Office on ext 3831.

March 2007 | Comment | 15

Books Three favourite... fish and chip shops near the strand Campus As recommended by Geoff Browell, Archives Services Manager, Strand Campus. north sea Fish restaurant (Leigh Street)

Cathal O’Byrne and the Northern Revival in Ireland, 1890-1960 Dr richard Kirkland, Department of english

In this fascinating book, Dr Richard Kirkland explores the history of the north of Ireland in the 20th century through the biography of one of its most unusual and talented performers – the legendary musician, IRA activist, poet, and Catholic mystic, Cathal O’Byrne.

Both gay and Catholic in Protestant-dominated Ulster, O’Byrne’s circle of friends included the human rights campaigner Roger Casement and the leader of the Easter Rising of 1916, Patrick Pearse.

Despite its eccentricities, O’Byrne’s work was indicative of major shifts in nationalist opinion, as he moved from Home Rule politics to an eventual commitment to arms during the Irish War of Independence.

Dr Kirkland uses the story of O’Byrne’s life to explore the phenomenon of the Irish cultural revival as it occurred in the North.

He also brings to light the hidden history of gay Belfast and the fate of Northern Ireland’s Catholics in the previously neglected period after Partition but before the Troubles of the late 1960s.

Liverpool University Press

Critical Perspectives on Health

United Nations Interventionism, 1991-2004

Peter Duncan, Department of education & Professional Studies

Professor mats Berdal, Department of War Studies

What is health? Throughout this book Peter Duncan challenges readers to investigate that very question, and to reflect on how different interpretations can strengthen our understanding of healthcare practice.

After years of paralysis, the 1990s saw an explosion in the number of United Nations field operations around the world.

In terms of scope and level of ambition, these interventions went beyond the tried and tested principles of classical UN peacekeeping.

Indeed, in some cases – such as Cambodia, Kosovo and East Timor – the UN presence assumed the form of quasiprotectorates designed to steer war-torn and deeply divided societies towards lasting peace.

Critical Perspectives on Health looks at beliefs and

values, and examines how diverse perspectives relate to both professional background and academic experience.

Readers are encouraged to develop the core skills of critical analysis and reflection, and to use these to consider the practical and conceptual issues of health and healthcare.

In particular the book includes a broad range of practical activities and thinking points to support further debate and discussion; offers clear and succinct explanations of all the key terms; and employs an original and distinctive style, encouraging readers to continually reflect on professional practice.

This text demonstrates the rewards and benefits that can be gained from a deeper understanding of the concept of health, making it invaluable for all students of health studies.

Palgrave Macmillan

United Nations Interventionism, 1991-2004 examines the UN’s performance and assesses the wider impact of ‘new interventionism’ on international order and the study of international relations.

Featuring eight case studies of major UN interventions and an introductory chapter outlining the most important theoretical and political features of the international system which have led to the increased interventionary practices of the UN, this book will appeal to students and researchers in international relations and international organisations.

This traditional chip shop in deepest Bloomsbury is hard to find but a joy to discover.

A large dining area makes it ideal for parties. The sit-down menu includes a wide selection of fresh fish and puddings including old favourites like sherry trifle and cheesecake.

Buy a book at Judd Books, enjoy a pint in the Lord John Russell and finish off swimming with the fishes.

Fryer’s Delight (Theobald’s Road)

This serves probably the best chips in London – crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside – just as they should be. Demonstrating a healthy disregard for food faddism, it still uses beef dripping for fuller flavour. A favourite with cabbies and Holborn lawyers, this uber-50s time warp’s vinyl and melamine décor is reminiscent of a down-at-heel seaside resort.

Fresh fish, reasonably priced.

You’ve never had it so good.

Rock and Sole Plaice (endell Street)

They queue outside here in summer after visiting the neighbouring Cross Keys, a Victorian local that serves the inestimable Harveys bitter. Just off Covent Garden, and opened in 1871, the shop is purported to be the oldest in London. Its excellent chunky chips are a must! You have been warned!

Let us know your three favourite things related to a Campus and they could provide colleagues with useful tips. Email julie.munk@kcl.ac.uk

Penguin Books

Comment is the College’s regular newsletter, edited by the Public Relations Department and designed by the Corporate Design Unit | Comment is printed on paper produced with 80 per cent recovered fibre | Articles are welcomed from all members of the College, but please note that the Editor reserves the right to amend articles | Copy for the next issue can be sent to Julie Munk, Public Relations Department (ext 3075), James Clerk Maxwell Building, Waterloo Campus, or emailed to julie.munk@kcl.ac.uk by 25 april.

1 | Comment | March 2007