A WORLD-RENOWNED professor from the Pirbright Institute for Animal Health has been awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours List.

Professor Venugopal Nair is the Head of the Avian Viral Diseases Programme at the Ash Road facility and has been recognised for his outstanding contributions to science in the field of avian disease research.

Born in 1955, Professor Nair moved to the UK from his native India in 1989, initially working as a post-doctoral research fellow at Oxford University. It was during this time (1994) that he accepted a post at Pirbright.

Having first worked as the Head of the Avian Oncogenic Virus group, carrying out extensive studies on Marek’s disease and avian leukosis virus, Professor Nair became the Head of the Avian Viral Diseases Programme in 2010, overseeing the research on virology and immunology.

His innovative research is focused on unravelling the molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis, the process by which cancer cells are formed, and he has made major contributions to understanding how avian oncogenic viruses induce tumours.

Away from work in Pirbright, Professor Nair holds Visiting Professorships at Imperial College London and the University of Liverpool, and is also Investigator at the Jenner Institute – the research partnership between Oxford University and Pirbright Institute.

As an Associate Editor of the Diseases of Poultry journal, and former Editor of Avian Pathology, Professor Nair’s research is published in more than 120 publications.

PROFESSOR Nair, who in 2013 was admitted into the World Veterinary Poultry Association Hall of Honour, is also designated expert of the Office International des Epizooties Reference Centre on Marek’s disease.