He was elected alongside 56 other new Fellows including BAFTA and Emmy-winning satirist Armando Iannucci, award-winning journalist and charity founder Sally Magnusson, entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr Michael Welch, Leonie Bell, Director of the V&A Dundee, and Professor Elham Kashefi, a world leader in the field of quantum computing.
On hearing the news, he said:
“I am honoured to have been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The broad and multi-disciplinary nature of the Society has never been more important, given the complex nature of the challenges facing society which increasingly require solutions involving collaboration across disciplines and sectors.
He added:
“My own work exploring how physical activity, diet and excess body weight affect health, why these effects are different in different people, and how to target and support effective long-term health behaviour change provides a key example of the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration between biological, medical and social scientists working together with external stakeholders to develop effective solutions. Along similar lines, there is now clear evidence that increased diversity leads to improved outcomes, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with the Society on initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion in science.”
Jason has made major contributions to the prevention and management of vascular, metabolic, and chronic diseases. As well as influencing national health guidelines, he has contributed to the communication of these public health issues with a range of television programmes, broadcast on BBC1, BBC2, ITV, and Channel 4.
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