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Oxford COVID-19 researchers recognised in Queen’s New Year Honours

Oxford COVID-19 trial managers have been recognised for services during the pandemic in Her Majesty’s New Year Honours list.

Staff from the University of Oxford’s international RECOVERY trial into COVID-19 treatments have been honoured with MBEs.

Trial Coordinator Professor Richard Haynes was honoured for services to global health while Senior Trial Manager Lucy Fletcher was commended for services to clinical trials.

It has recruited over 46,000 patients, including more than 1,600 from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire, and identified treatments to cut deaths including dexamethasone, estimated to have saved over a million lives globally.

Professor Haynes said: “I am excited, flattered and embarrassed to receive this honour. I am only receiving this because of the incredible efforts of my friends and colleagues in the RECOVERY team and wider university. I dedicate it to them, and to all of our collaborators at hospitals in the NHS and around the world who have given themselves to this effort.”

Lucy added: “It is a privilege to receive this honour for services to clinical trials. My recent involvement in the management of the RECOVERY trial of treatments for COVID-19 has been an extraordinary and hugely rewarding experience. I am delighted to have had the opportunity to contribute to what has been such an important and impactful collaboration.”

Professor Nick Lemoine, the NIHR Clinical Research Network’s Medical Director, also received a CBE for services to clinical research particularly during COVID-19.

Professor Lemoine, who oversaw delivery of 100 priority COVID-19 studies, said: “Together, we were able to work at breakneck speed, and often under considerable pressure. The fact we could deliver this only shows how robust and well-developed the UK’s health research sector is. It has been an unforgettable privilege to have played a part in that effort.”

Read more on the NIHR website.