Janet Hemingway (born 1957) is a British infectious diseases specialist. She is the former Director of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and founding Director of Infection Innovation Consortium and Professor of Tropical Medicine at LSTM. She is current President of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
While serving as Director of LSTM between 2001 and 2019, Hemingway oversaw a period of organisational growth. This included the awarding of Higher Education Institution Status & Degree Awarding powers to LSTM. For her 2012 contributions to the Prevention of Tropical Disease Vectors, she received the Commander of the British Empire (CBE). She assumed the role of founding director of iiCON in 2020 iiCON is a collaborative R&D initiative creating a premier international center for infectious disease R&D in the North West of England.
Hemingway also works on advocacy and resource mobilisation (and was previously chief executive officer) at the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) (funded by the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...
), and is International Director of the Joint Centre for Infectious Diseases Research,
Jizan
Jazan ( ar, جازان, Jāzān), also spelled ''Jizan'' ( ar, جيزان, Jīzān), ''Gizan'' or ''Gazan'', is a port city and the capital of Jizan Region, which lies in the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia and directly north of the border with ...
, Saudi Arabia.Janet Hemingway, The Life Scientific 2014-06-10 BBC Radio 4
Early life and education
Hemingway was born in a small mining town in
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
in 1957 to parents who owned a
corner shop
A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticke ...
. She obtained a first-class honours degree in zoology and genetics from the
University of Sheffield
, mottoeng = To discover the causes of things
, established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions:
– Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield
, type = Pu ...
, where she set up the university's first mosquito insectary as part of her thesis project. She was invited to pursue a PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and within two years had obtained her doctorate on the biochemistry and genetics of
insecticide resistance
Pesticide resistance describes the decreased susceptibility of a pest population to a pesticide that was previously effective at controlling the pest. Pest species evolve pesticide resistance via natural selection: the most resistant specimens s ...
in ''
Anopheles
''Anopheles'' () is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognised; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus ''Plasmodium'', which ...
'' mosquitoes.
Research and career
Hemingway has over 30 years of experience working on the biochemistry and molecular biology of specific enzyme systems associated with
xenobiotic
A xenobiotic is a chemical substance found within an organism that is not naturally produced or expected to be present within the organism. It can also cover substances that are present in much higher concentrations than are usual. Natural compo ...
resistance, most notably the malaria-transmitting mosquito.
Hemingway is distinguished as the international authority on insecticide resistance in insect vectors of disease. She was first to report co-amplification of multiple
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...
s on a single
amplicon
In molecular biology, an amplicon is a piece of DNA or RNA that is the source and/or product of amplification or replication events. It can be formed artificially, using various methods including polymerase chain reactions (PCR) or ligase chai ...
and demonstrate their impact on disease transmission. Her studies on resistance management have transformed the use of insecticide by disease control programmes. Her promotion of evidence-based monitoring and evaluation strategies for insecticide resistance has guided and improved international policy on vector control strategies for Onchocerciasis,
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, and other vector borne diseases. Her rigorous scientific approach to resistance analysis has contributed to a greater understanding of resistance, its impact and spread and has minimised its effect in increasing human mortality and morbidity.
Awards and honours
* Awarded
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(CBE) for services to the Control of Tropical Disease Vectors in the Queen's
2012 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom. on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,Fellow of The Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
(FRS) in 2011 One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
* Elected a Fellow to the
American Academy of Microbiology
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...
in 2011
* Elected a Foreign Associate to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2010
* Conferred Honorary Doctor of Science by
University of Sheffield
, mottoeng = To discover the causes of things
, established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions:
– Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield
, type = Pu ...
in 2009
* Inaugurated as a Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...
in 2008
* Inaugurated as a Fellow of the
Academy of Medical Sciences
The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society.
Its mission is to adv ...