Kevin Park Award

The Kevin Park Award is made in recognition of the achievements of an exceptional mid-career member of the BTS, who is within 10 to 25 years of their highest qualification. The successful awardee will be an invited guest at the BTS Annual Congress, where they will receive their award and deliver the Kevin Park Award lecture.

Candidate Attributes

An exceptional mid-career toxicologist who has made a substantial and broadening contribution to the science of toxicology (research, regulation, risk assessment, communication, mentoring, education and training)

Awarded

Biennially in even numbered years

Prize
  • Invitation to deliver the Kevin Park Award Lecture at the Annual Congress
  • Commemorative certificate
  • Registration, accommodation, and travel for the Annual Congress in line with BTS Travel Policy
Criteria
  • The nominee will typically be within 10-25 years of their highest qualification at the time of the BTS Annual Congress
  • The nominee will have been a BTS member for a minimum of 2 years prior to the nomination closure date
  • Open to all members meeting the above criteria, independent of age or place of employment
Application requirements

The nominator should send the following information to the BTS Secretariat:

  • Full CV of the candidate
  • Description (of no more than 1000 words) of the candidate’s achievements to date.
  • Brief summary of the reason for the nomination (no more than 250 words), including how the individual fulfils the eligibility for the award.

Applications will be judged on the success and impact of their toxicology-focused studies, quality and translation of their work to the wider toxicology field, their broadening impact in guiding and developing others within the scientific community, and contribution to the work of the BTS.

Process
  • Nominations should be submitted in response to a call to the Membership in the year preceding the relevant Annual Congress.
  • Nominations for the award can be made by any member of the BTS, including the self nomination.
  • Nominations will be reviewed by the Nominations Subcommittee which makes recommendations for ratification by the Executive Committee.
  • The successful awardee will be notified by the Chair of the Nominations Subcommittee by the end of February preceding the Annual Congress.

Portrait of Professor Kevin ParkAbout Prof Kevin Park (1951-2022)

Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Liverpool

Kevin Park was a pioneer across the disciplines of toxicology, drug safety, pharmacology and medicinal chemistry for nearly 50 years. His contributions to these fields made major impacts in terms of benefiting individual patients, public health, Government policy and the pharmaceutical industry. Kevin graduated with a BSc in Chemistry in 1971 at the University of Liverpool, followed by a PhD in Organic Chemistry. He became a lecturer in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in 1976, Wellcome Senior Lecturer in 1983, and both Wellcome Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in 1989. He went on to become Head of Department in 1999 and Head of Institute in 2014. Kevin served on the MHRA Committee on Safety of Medicines/Commission on Human Medicines for 22 years. He published over 700 peer-reviewed articles and supervised 135 PhD students, many of whom now hold senior positions in Industry and Academia (including full University Chair positions). Amongst his many achievements, Kevin established the first national MRC-funded Centre for the study of the safety of medicines, and led two major EU Innovative Medicines Initiative consortia, which resulted in changes in how pharmaceutical companies assess the risk of liver injury during drug development. Kevin was awarded the Pfizer Medal for Innovative Science in 2000, the ISSX Scientific Achievement Award in 2012, and a British Pharmacological Society Honorary Fellowship in 2016. Kevin was a strong supporter and long-standing member of the BTS, and served on the BTS Executive Committee between 2000 and 2006. He was a Fellow of the Society and awarded the BTS Barnes Prize in 2017. This award is named in honour of Kevin to recognise his outstanding contributions to the fields of toxicology and drug safety, both nationally and internationally.

BTS Achievement Award (2020-2023)

2020/1   Dr Helen Prior, National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs)

2022     Dr Richard Currie, Syngenta

Kevin Park Award (2024-)

This award was renamed in honour of Prof Kevin Park in 2023

2024     Dr Dominic Williams, AstraZeneca