Calcium Regulation: From Rhinos to Molecules

Rajesh Thakker is the May Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Somerville and Harris Manchester Colleges, Oxford. His main research interests include the molecular basis of disorders of calcium homeostasis. He is a Consultant Endocrinologist who provides expertise in the fields of neuroendocrine tumours (NETs), and disorders of calcium and phosphate metabolism. He was previously Professor of Medicine at The Royal Postgraduate Medical School, The Hammersmith Hospital, London, until 1999, when he took up his present position in Oxford. He has served on the MRC Physiological Medicine and Infections Grants Committee (1994-1997), the MRC Clinical Training and Career Development Panel (1997-2000), the MRC Physiological Medicine and Infections Board (2000-2005), as Secretary to the Forum on Academic Medicine for the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (2002-2005), and on the Council for the Society for Endocrinology (2003-2006). He is currently Chairman of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) / MRC Efficacy and Mechanisms Evaluations (EME) Board. He has been the recipient of many prizes which include Young Investigator Award from the ASBMR (USA), the Raymond-Horton Smith Prize (Cambridge University, UK), the Society for Endocrinology (UK) medal, the European Journal of Endocrinology Prize (EFES), the Graham Bull Prize from the Royal College of Physicians (UK), the Parathyroid Medal from the Fondazione Raffaella Becagli (F.I.R.M.O.), the Jack W. Coburn Endowed Lectureship from the American Society of Nephrology, and the Louis V Avioli Founder’s Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (USA). Professor Thakker was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2014.