Professor Lesley Rhodes’ outstanding work in photobiology has seen her awarded two international honours.
Professor Rhodes, who is an Honorary Consultant Dermatologist at Salford Royal and Professor of Experimental Dermatology at the University of Manchester, was awarded the European Society for Photobiology’s medal ‘for outstanding contributions to photobiology science and leadership in the field of photobiology.’
The medal was presented in recognition of her major research achievements in photomedicine and contributions to the Society, of which she is a Past President.
She was also presented with the Edna Roe Lectureship award of the International Union of Photobiology, at the World Congress of Light and Life, Barcelona 2019 ‘for scientific breakthrough in the photosciences.’
The award is named after Dr Edna Roe, a medical physicist who in 1937 was one of the first female students of the Institute of Cancer Research to be awarded a doctorate and who was a founding member of what became the International Union of Photobiology.
Professor Rhodes is leader of the photodermatoses research programme at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre, Manchester, which is advancing the understanding and treatment of disabling skin conditions caused by exposure to sunlight.
Her research encompasses the health benefits and hazards of the interaction of sunlight’s radiation with skin, including inflammation, skin cancer and vitamin D synthesis.
She is also a member of the United Nations Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, which advises on the impacts of environmental change, with particular reference to the influence of sunlight exposure on skin disease and further aspects of human health.