Please note: The usual nomination process for the MRC Millennium Medal has been paused.
25th Anniversary Millennium Medal
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this award, the Medical Research Council (MRC) will present a special award to an individual who has made a major contribution to UK biomedical research over the past 25 years. The recipient will be presented with the medal at an MRC conference in November 2025.
The MRC Millennium Medal is presented to an exceptional researcher who has made a major contribution towards MRC’s mission to improve human health through world-class medical research.
Nominees should demonstrate outstanding scientific excellence, impact and wider contributions to improving the research environment and culture.
The winner will:
- receive a prestigious medal, specially created by The Royal Mint
- be listed amongst the most highly influential and impactful researchers in the UK
- deliver a lecture and have their research and achievements showcased at an awards ceremony
Review of MRC Millennium Medal
The usual nomination process has been paused to allow the MRC to review the prize and incorporate feedback from our research community and Prize Committee to enhance the scheme’s delivery.
We will provide nominating institutions with advance notice ahead of the launch of the next round of the MRC Millennium Medal competition and will update this web page accordingly.
Previous winners
Since its launch more than 20 years ago, the MRC Millennium Medal has been presented to truly outstanding individuals, spanning the full breath of medical research and innovation. Several of these researchers have also gone on to receive a Nobel Prize or be listed on the Queen’s Honours list for scientific excellence in their field.
Timeline of the past MRC Millennium Medal winners between 2000 and 2023:
- 2023: Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, transformative research into the causes of autism and reshaped public perception of neurodiversity
- 2022: Professor Lisa Hall CBE, outstanding impacts in biotechnology and biosensor design
- 2022: Professor Sarah Tabrizi, pioneering work in Huntington’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases
- 2021: Professor Sharon Peacock CBE, pioneering work in pathogen sequencing, visionary leadership of COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium (COG-UK) and outstanding contributions to advance equality, diversity and inclusion in research
- 2020: Professor Sir Rory Collins, transformative contributions to cardiovascular disease and visionary leadership of UK Biobank
- 2017: Professor Janet Darbyshire, transformative work on clinical trials, resulting in major advances in disease treatment and prevention including tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, and cancer
- 2015: Professor Sir Brian Greenwood, reinventing field research in tropical medicine
- 2013: Professor Sir Gregory Winter, development of humanised monoclonal antibodies
- 2013: Professor Sir Philip Cohen, outstanding collaborative work with the pharmaceutical industry
- 2006: Professor Sir Edwin Southern, invention of the southern blotting technique and DNA microarray technology
- 2004: Sir Peter Mansfield, development of MRI imaging
- 2002: Professor Tom Meade, contribution to UK health, particularly in cardiovascular disease
- 2000: Dr César Milstein, pioneering work on monoclonal antibodies
Contact
For more information email the MRC Millennium Medal team.
Email: medal@mrc.ukri.org
Last updated: 11 April 2025